germanium

[ jer-mey-nee-uhm ]

nounChemistry.
  1. a scarce, metallic, grayish-white element, normally tetravalent, used chiefly in transistors. Symbol: Ge; atomic weight: 72.59; atomic number: 32; specific gravity: 5.36 at 20°C.

Origin of germanium

1
First recorded in 1885–90; German(y) + -ium

Words Nearby germanium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use germanium in a sentence

  • In 1875 Lecoq de Boisbandram discovered gallium, which filled one of the gaps; scandium and germanium filled the other two later.

  • On the one side is carbon, with below it titanium and zirconium; on the other silicon, with germanium and tin.

    Occult Chemistry | Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater
  • Its negative pendant shows the same form in silicon, germanium and tin; again, the fourth was unexamined.

    Occult Chemistry | Annie Besant and Charles W. Leadbeater
  • It was a true answer, for all statements made by England culminated in the one sentence germanium esse delendam.

    In the World War | Count Ottokar Czernin

British Dictionary definitions for germanium

germanium

/ (dʒɜːˈmeɪnɪəm) /


noun
  1. a brittle crystalline grey element that is a semiconducting metalloid, occurring principally in zinc ores and argyrodite: used in transistors, as a catalyst, and to strengthen and harden alloys. Symbol: Ge; atomic no: 32; atomic wt: 72.61; valency: 2 or 4; relative density: 5.323; melting pt: 938.35°C; boiling pt: 2834°C

Origin of germanium

1
C19: New Latin, named after Germany

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

Scientific definitions for germanium

germanium

[ jər-mānē-əm ]


Ge
  1. A brittle, crystalline, grayish-white metalloid element that is found in coal, in zinc ores, and in several minerals. It is used as a semiconductor and in wide-angle lenses. Atomic number 32; atomic weight 72.59; melting point 937.4°C; boiling point 2,830°C; specific gravity 5.323 (at 25°C); valence 2, 4. See Periodic Table.

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