alkaline earth

American  

noun

Chemistry.

1. any of the oxides of barium, radium, strontium, calcium, and, sometimes, magnesium.

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alkaline earth British  

noun

1. Also called: alkaline earth metal.   alkaline earth element.  any of the divalent electropositive metals beryllium, magnesium, calcium, strontium, barium, and radium, belonging to group 2A of the periodic table

2. an oxide of one of the alkaline earth metals

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Etymology

Origin of alkaline earth

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

The only result that popped up pertained to chemistry: specifically, to the periodic table and the atomic numbers of the alkaline earth metals.

From New York Times • May 21, 2023

Unlike most salts of the alkali metals, many of the common salts of the alkaline earth metals are insoluble in water because of the high lattice energies of these compounds, containing a divalent metal ion.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

The alkaline earth metals occur as silicates and, with the exception of beryllium, as carbonates and sulfates.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

Active metals such as the alkali metals and alkaline earth metals can reduce nitrogen to form metal nitrides.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

Magnesia, a light and white alkaline earth, which enters into the composition of many rocks, communicating to them a greasy or soapy feeling, and a striped texture, with sometimes a greenish color.

From A Treatise on Domestic Economy For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School by Beecher, Catharine Esther