Why did the scientist name silver argentum?

Answer 1

The Periodic Table's symbol for silver is Ag and Argentum is also Latin for 'Payment' (I believe)... The root of the Latin word argentum is argent, meaning money. This meaning holds true today in the French language, as it did in Middle English and Old French linguistic periods. To frame the aforementioned time periods, most reference sources date the origin and use of the word argent to anywhere between 1450 - 1485. It is easier to trace the etymologies (word origins) of words if you can break a word down into its parts--usually consisting of one root/stem and a suffix, the latter of which denotes, amongst other characteristics, tense, plurality, possession and, as is true of the Romance, or Latin based languages, gender; virtues all dependent upon the structure of the suffix. Thus, argent may further be broken down into its constituents, which yields the root arg-, meaning white, to shine; silver. The suffix -ent, presumably, is a derivation of one or more principal suffixes, namely -en and -ence/-ency, meaning made of and quality, respectively. What we're left with is a substance made of silver or having the quality of shine.

It should be noted that the stem arg-, all its connoted meaning, and very possibly its inherent meaning, as would suggest the following, is the same in Greek, Armenian, Old Persian, Middle and Old French, Latin, as well as Sanskrit.