<P> In relation to the chemical elements, a symbol is a code for a chemical element . Many functional groups has their own chemical symbol, e.g. Ph for the phenyl group, and Me for the methyl group . Chemical symbols for elements normally consist of one or two letters from the Latin alphabet, but can contain three when the element has a systematic temporary name (as of March 2017, no discovered elements have such a name), and are written with the first letter capitalized . </P> <P> Earlier chemical element symbols stem from classical Latin and Greek vocabulary . For some elements, this is because the material was known in ancient times, while for others, the name is a more recent invention . For example, "He" is the symbol for helium (New Latin name, not known in ancient Roman times), "Pb" for lead (plumbum in Latin), and "Hg" for mercury (hydrargyrum in Greek). Some symbols come from other sources, like "W" for tungsten (Wolfram in German, not known in Roman times). </P>

Where do the symbols of elements come from