Word of the day · Tuesday, November 10, 2026

kalium

noun

The Latin name for potassium, and the reason its chemical symbol is K.

Where it comes from

From kali, an old word for potash, from Arabic al-qaly, plant ashes. The same Arabic word gives alkali.

Worth knowing

Sodium's symbol Na comes from natrium the same way. Several element symbols only make sense through their Latin names: Fe for iron, Pb for lead, Au for gold.

By the letters

• 6letters
• 3vowels (A E I O U)
• Kuncommon letters
• 6different letters

Playing it

KALIUM and HELIUM share the -LIUM ending. A K at the start is easier to place than a K in the middle, since it can open a word across or head a column.

Hooks

One letter added to make a new word (what is a hook), at the end: KALIUMS.

In Unsaid

KALIUM was word of the day number 23 in Unsaid, a falling-letter word game where every player gets the same word on the same date. As a word it scores 920 points. Under the current rules, spelling it as the word of the day is worth a bonus of 9,840 reading down or 7,380 reading across, before any streak. How the bonus works.