All that corrodes is not just iron
Peter Childs, University of Limerick, investigates words in chemistry.
The widespread use of iron and steel means that the tell-tale signs of rust are all around us. Rusting springs to mind when we think of corrosion. But corrosion comes from the Latin corrodere meaning to gnaw away, and thus is a general term used when any material reacts with its environment and is damaged.
Rust is the name given to the red oxidation product of iron, hydrated iron(III) oxide. The term rust is also used for a fungal disease of plants, shown by the appearance of red patches on leaves, though this is not corrosion.
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