phosphorus: [17] Etymologically, phosphorus means ‘bringing light’. The word comes via Latin phōsphorus from Greek phōsphóros, a compound adjective formed from phōs ‘light’ and the suffix -phóros ‘carrying’ (a relative of English bear), which was used as an epithet for the planet Venus as it appears at dawn. It was also applied to any substance that that glowed, and in the mid 17th century it was taken up as the term for the newly isolated element phosphorus, which catches fire when exposed to the air. Phosphate [18] was borrowed from French phosphat, a derivative of phosphore ‘phosphorus’. => bear, photo
