Affixes

The semi-metal tellurium was named by its discoverer, the German chemist Martin Klaproth (1743–1817), as a deliberate contrast to uranium (Greek ouranos, heavens), which he had discovered previously. Most terms in this form relate to tellurium: a telluride is a compound of divalent tellurium, analogous to a sulphide; tellurite is a salt of the anion TeO₃^2‑; the adjectives tellurous and telluric can refer respectively to tellurium with combining powers of four and six. However, a few words retain the original Latin sense of the earth: a tellurian is an inhabitant of the earth; telluric can also refer to the earth as a planet or to the soil; a tellurometer is a microwave long-distance surveying instrument.