Latin Derivation and French Influence

• The term "aluminum" stems from the Latin word "alumen," or "alum." In 1761, Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, a French chemist, isolated aluminum for the first time and called his discovery "alumine."
  
  

Cornish and German Influence

• Humphry Davy, a Cornish chemist and inventor, is credited with renaming "alumine" to "alumium" in 1807. This was later altered to "aluminum" in 1827, when the German chemist, Friedrich Wohler, isolated Oersted's 1825 discovery. Two years later, in 1829, "-ium" was added to the end of the name to create "aluminium," because of its new mineral status.
  
  

American Influence

• The "-ium" in "aluminium" was dropped in 1925 by the American Chemical Society, which led to the creation of the modern-day word, "aluminum." In England and in some other parts of the world, the name "aluminium" is still widely used.