A predicted chemical element that Dmitri Mendeleev theorized would exist below silicon on the periodic table, later identified as the real element germanium.
From Sanskrit 'eka' meaning 'one' combined with 'silicon'; Mendeleev used the prefix 'eka-' (meaning 'one') to name elements one position below known elements in his periodic table before they were discovered.
Mendeleev's prediction of ekasilicon in 1869 was so accurate that when germanium was discovered in 1886, its properties matched his predictions almost perfectly—this stunning success proved the periodic table's power and made Mendeleev famous.
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