tellurium

[ te-loo r-ee-uh m ]

/ tɛˈlʊər i əm /

noun Chemistry.

a rare, lustrous, brittle, crystalline, silver-white element resembling sulfur in its properties, and usually occurring in nature combined with gold, silver, or other metals of high atomic weight: used in the manufacture of alloys and as a coloring agent in glass and ceramics. Symbol: Te; atomic weight: 127.60; atomic number: 52; specific gravity: 6.24.

Nearby words

Origin of tellurium

< New Latin (1798), equivalent to Latin tellūr- (stem of tellūs) earth + -ium

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

Examples from the Web for tellurium

They may both be obtained by the direct action of chlorine on tellurium.
Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II|Arnold Cooley
In this case the iron pins mark the paper tape, but the tellurium pins make no mark.
Edison, His Life and Inventions|Frank Lewis Dyer and Thomas Commerford Martin
Billy sat on Tellurium and gazed with rapt wonder at the scene which stretched out below.
Wunpost|Dane Coolidge
Write the names and formulas of the oxides and oxygen acids of selenium and tellurium.
An Elementary Study of Chemistry|William McPherson

If tellurium be present, carmine and purple colors on the assay will proclaim the fact.
The A B C of Mining|Charles A. Bramble

British Dictionary definitions for tellurium

tellurium

/ (tɛˈlʊərɪəm) /

noun

a brittle silvery-white nonmetallic element occurring both uncombined and in combination with metals: used in alloys of lead and copper and as a semiconductor. Symbol: Te; atomic no: 52; atomic wt: 127.60; valency: 2, 4, or 6; relative density: 6.24; melting pt: 449.57±0.3°C; boiling pt: 988°C

Word Origin for tellurium

C19: New Latin, from Latin tellūs the earth, formed by analogy with uranium

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 tellurium

tellurium

metallic element, named by German chemist and mineralogist Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817) from Latin tellus (genitive telluris) "earth" (see tellurian).

Medicine definitions for tellurium

tellurium

[ tĕ-lur′ē-əm ]

n. Symbol Te

A brittle metallic element usually found in combination with gold and other metals, used to alloy stainless steel and lead, and in thermoelectric devices. Atomic number 52.

Science definitions for tellurium

tellurium

[ tĕ-lur′ē-əm ]

Te

A metalloid element that occurs as either a brittle, shiny, silvery-white crystal or a gray or brown powder. Small amounts of tellurium are used to improve the alloys of various metals. Atomic number 52; atomic weight 127.60; melting point 449.5°C; boiling point 989.8°C; specific gravity 6.24; valence 2, 4, 6. See Periodic Table.