Nickel comes from German/Swedish kopparnickel, meaning 'copper demon,' because the ore looked like copper but yielded none.
A silvery-white metallic element, or a US five-cent coin.
Shortened from Swedish kopparnickel, a copper-colored ore that frustrated miners because it yielded no copper. Nickel comes from the German name Nikolaus (Nick), used as a term for a mischievous sprite or devil. The ore was literally 'copper demon' — copper that tricked you. Key roots