The chemical element iodine takes its name from the Greek for what color?

Iodine is a chemical element with symbol I and atomic number 53. The name is from Greek meaning violet or purple due to the color of elemental iodine vapour. Iodine and its compounds are primarily used in nutrition and industrially in the production of acetic acid and certain polymers. The elemental form was discovered by the French chemist Bernard Courtois in 1811.

Iodine occurs in many oxidation states, including iodide, iodate, and the various periodate anions. It is the least abundant of the stable halogens, being the sixty-first most abundant element. It is even less abundant than the so-called rare earths. It is the heaviest essential element. Iodine is found in the thyroid hormones. Iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is the leading preventable cause of intellectual disabilities.