vanadium

American  

[vuh-ney-dee-uhm] / vəˈneɪ di əm /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a rare element occurring in certain minerals and obtained as a light-gray powder with a silvery luster or as a ductile metal: used as an ingredient of steel to toughen it and increase its shock resistance. V; 50.942; 23; 5.96.

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vanadium British  

/ vəˈneɪdɪəm /

noun

1. a toxic silvery-white metallic element occurring chiefly in carnotite and vanadinite and used in steel alloys, high-speed tools, and as a catalyst. Symbol: V; atomic no: 23; atomic wt: 50.9415; valency: 2–5; relative density: 6.11; melting pt: 1910±10°C; boiling pt: 3409°C

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vanadium Scientific  

/ və-nā′dē-əm /

1. A soft, bright-white metallic element that occurs naturally in several minerals. It has good structural strength and is used especially to make strong varieties of steel. Atomic number 23; atomic weight 50.942; melting point 1,890°C; boiling point 3,000°C; specific gravity 6.11; valence 2, 3, 4, 5.

2. See Periodic Table

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Etymology

Origin of vanadium

< New Latin (1830) < Icelandic Vanad ( ís ) epithet of Freya ( Vana, genitive of Vanir Vanir + dís goddess) + New Latin -ium -ium

Example Sentences

The team successfully applied this method to six types of MXenes, including two forms of titanium carbide, as well as niobium carbide, vanadium carbide, tantalum carbide, and titanium carbonitride.

From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026

“The markets are small for those products,” Hopkins said, adding testing continues on the economics of extracting smelter-grade alumina, a key component of the aluminum supply chain, along with scandium and vanadium.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

Ionic MT said it discovered high grades of 16 different types of minerals, everything from lithium to alumina, germanium, rubidium, cesium, vanadium and niobium at the site in Utah’s Silicon Ridge.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 11, 2025

For instance, a Washington air tanker base was in 2016 cited by the state Department of Ecology for violating the cadmium, chromium and vanadium limits set by its waste discharge permit.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 16, 2024

Outside of the Peruvian deposit, the affiliations of which are doubtful, the vanadium deposits of economic importance owe their positions and values mainly to the action of surface processes, rather than to igneous activity.

From The Economic Aspect of Geology by Leith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)