metallic chemical element, 1808, coined in Modern Latin by German chemist and mineralogist Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817) in 1789; so called because it was found in zircon.
Entries linking to zirconium
zircon n.
1794, circon, also jargon, new name given in chemistry to jacinth, from German Zirkon (Klaproth, 1789), which probably is from 18c. French jargon, a vague mineral word used of high-quality diamond-like gemstones; it has been traced to Medieval Latin jargonce, which is of uncertain origin. Compare Italian giargone, from the same source.