fermium

[fur-mee-uh m]

noun Chemistry, Physics.

a transuranic element. Symbol: Fm; atomic number: 100.

Origin of fermium

1950–55; named after E. Fermi; see -ium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for fermium

fermium

noun

a transuranic element artificially produced by neutron bombardment of plutonium. Symbol: Fm; atomic no: 100; half-life of most stable isotope, 257 Fm: 80 days (approx.)

Word Origin for fermium

C20: named after Enrico Fermi

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

Word Origin and History for fermium

Fermium

discovered in the debris of a 1952 U.S. nuclear test in the Pacific, named 1955 for Italian-born U.S. physicist Enrico Fermi (1901-1954).

fermium in Medicine

fermium

[fûr′mē-əm, fĕr′-]

n. Symbol Fm

A synthetic radioactive metallic element whose most stable isotope is Fm 257 with a half-life of approximately 100 days. Atomic number 100.

fermium in Science

fermium

[fûr′mē-əm]

Fm

A synthetic, radioactive metallic element of the actinide series that is produced from plutonium or uranium. Its most stable isotope is Fm 257 with a half-life of approximately 100 days. Atomic number 100. See Periodic Table.