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-on2

Inert gases.

The Greek neuter ending ‑on.

Argon was the first of the inert gases to be discovered; its name was taken from Greek, the neuter of argos, idle, from a‑ without, plus ergon, work. Others were named in imitation: neon (Greek, literally ‘something new’, neuter of the adjective neos), krypton (Greek krupton, neuter of kruptos, hidden); xenon (Greek, neuter of xenos, strange); radon (from radium).

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