tellurium

[ te-loor-ee-uhm ]

/ tɛˈlʊər i əm /

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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.

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Origin of tellurium

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

Words nearby tellurium

telluric, telluric acid, telluride, tellurion, tellurite, tellurium, tellurize, telluro-, tellurometer, tellurous, Tellus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use tellurium in a sentence

The compounds ranged from lithium to aluminum, useful in things like batteries and airplane parts, and from tellurium to titanium, which go in objects like semiconductors and metal alloys.
The US government is hunting for rare metals out West. That doesn’t fly with some locals.|Sarah Scoles/Undark|November 10, 2021|Popular-Science
Palladium, rhodium and tellurium are also met with as alloys of gold.
The Wonder Book of Knowledge|Various
It is also found in some comparatively rare minerals, such as tetradymite, combined with tellurium, and associated with gold.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
The cross in tellurium is identical with that in cadmium, except that the centre is seven-atomed instead of four-atomed.
Occult Chemistry|Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater

Tellurium very closely resembles cadmium, and they are, therefore placed on the same diagram.
Occult Chemistry|Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater
Tellūrif′erous, containing tellurium; Tel′lūrous, pertaining to tellurium.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements)|Various

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

Medical 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.

Scientific definitions for tellurium

tellurium

[ tĕ-lur′ē-əm ]

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.