Bromine character 溴

In Chinese chemistry, 溴 names bromine.

In Mandarin, it sounds roughly like “shyoh” with a falling tone; Pinyin writes it xiù. In chemistry it can also name a bromine compound. Outside that setting, a standalone 溴 is specialized and needs context.

why does 溴 mean bromine?

Its components connect water with a foul smell.

The received Xunzi, an early Chinese philosophical text, uses 滫 for foul water. Xunzi lived c. 310–219 BCE; that older word does not prove that 溴 itself was used then.

The 1871 Chinese chemistry text 《化学鉴原》 established 溴 as the name for bromine. Japanese uses 臭素 for the element, pairing 臭 (“smell”) with 素 (“element”).