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electrum

American  
[ih-lek-truhm] / ɪˈlɛk trəm /

noun

  1. an amber-colored alloy of gold and silver used in ancient times.

  2. an alloy composed of about 50 percent copper, 30 percent nickel, and 20 percent zinc.

  3. German silver; nickel silver.


electrum British  
/ ɪˈlɛktrəm /

noun

  1. an alloy of gold (55–88 per cent) and silver used for jewellery and ornaments

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of electrum

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin < Greek ḗlektron amber, alloy of gold and silver

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

This song has an axis of electrum, chile.

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2022

Before Croesus the Greeks used coins of a gold and silver alloy called electrum.

From Time Magazine Archive

Responsible banking opinion everywhere last week treated electrum talk as September madness.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Then said Uba-aner, ‘Bring me my casket of ebony and electrum.’

From Egyptian Literature Comprising Egyptian tales, hymns, litanies, invocations, the Book of the Dead, and cuneiform writings by Wilson, Epiphanius

To show his vigilance the Chief of the Odours offered the Suffet a little malobathrum to taste in an electrum spoon; then he pierced three Indian bezoars with an awl.

From Salammbo by Flaubert, Gustave