xenon

[zee-non, zen-on]

noun Chemistry.

a heavy, colorless, chemically inactive, monatomic gaseous element used for filling radio, television, and luminescent tubes. Symbol: Xe; atomic weight: 131.30; atomic number: 54.

Origin of xenon

1898; < Greek xénon, neuter of xénos strange (see -on²); name introduced by William Ramsay, the element's discoverer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for xenon

Contemporary Examples of xenon

They measured the amount of different isotopes of xenon trapped in quartz crystals.
The Moon’s Been Lying About Its Age
Matthew R. Francis
June 15, 2014

Historical Examples of xenon

The evidence for the existence of krypton and xenon is, however, inconclusive.
Astronomical Curiosities
J. Ellard Gore
That report was enough to make a man quit his job and go to Xenon to start a chicken ranch or grow oranges.
The Moralist
Jack Taylor
The animals on Xenon are immune from them, but when they land on a man, they send out tiny rootlets that are like minute hairs.
The Moralist
Jack Taylor
Aristarchus combated “the paradox of Xenon,” and it does not seem to have had much acceptance in antiquity.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5
Various
The remaining elements of this group—neon, krypton, and xenon—have been obtained from liquid air.
An Elementary Study of Chemistry
William McPherson

British Dictionary definitions for xenon

xenon

noun

a colourless odourless gaseous element occurring in trace amounts in air; formerly considered inert it is now known to form compounds and is used in radio valves, stroboscopic and bactericidal lamps, and bubble chambers. Symbol: Xe; atomic no: 54; atomic wt: 131.29; valency: 0; density: 5.887 kg/m³; melting pt: –111.76°C; boiling pt: –108.0°C

Word Origin for xenon

C19: from Greek: something strange

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 xenon

gaseous element, 1898, from Greek xenon, neuter of xenos "foreign, strange" (see guest); coined by its co-discoverer, Scottish chemist Sir William Ramsay (1852-1916); cf. krypton.

xenon in Medicine

xenon

[zē′nŏn′]

n. Symbol Xe

A colorless, odorless, highly unreactive gaseous element found in minute quantities in the atmosphere and extracted commercially from liquefied air, used as an anesthetic and, in radioisotope form, for diagnostic imaging. Atomic number 54.

xenon in Science

xenon

[zē′nŏn′]

A colorless, odorless element in the noble gas group occurring in extremely small amounts in the atmosphere. It was the first noble gas found to form compounds with other elements. Xenon is used in lamps that make intense flashes, such as strobe lights and flashbulbs for photography. Atomic number 54; atomic weight 131.29; melting point -111.9°C; boiling point -107.1°C; density (gas) 5.887 grams per liter; specific gravity (liquid) 3.52 (-109°C). See Periodic Table.