Four elements and compounds — manganese, magnesium, magnet, magnesia — all trace to a single Greek region so mineral-rich it named itself into chemistry four times.
A hard, brittle, grayish-white metallic element used in steel production and batteries.
From Italian manganese, a corruption of Medieval Latin magnesia, from Greek Magnēsia lithos meaning stone from Magnesia (a region in Thessaly) Key roots: Magnēsia (Greek: "region in Thessaly, Greece").
Manganese, magnesium, magnet, and magnesia all trace back to the same Greek place name: Magnesia in Thessaly. The region produced so many remarkable minerals that its name was recycled multiple times — creating centuries of chemical confusion that was only sorted out in the 18th century.