Link Centre Dictionary

selenium

se·le·nium

UK/sɪˈliːni.əm/ US/səˈliːni.əm/ uncommon

noun

1.

a toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium; occurs in several allotropic forms; a stable gray metallike allotrope conducts electricity better in the light than in the dark and is used in photocells; occurs in sulfide ores (as pyrite)

Synonyms

Origin

From French sélénium, the name coined by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1818 from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) in reference to original confusion with the similar element tellurium.

Phrases

  • hydroselenic acid
  • metallic selenium
  • selenic acid
  • selenious acid
  • selenium cell
  • selenium dioxide
  • selenium eye
  • selenium hexafluoride

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Word family

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Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.