VANADIUM

vanadium, atomic number

(noun) a soft silvery white toxic metallic element used in steel alloys; it occurs in several complex minerals including carnotite and vanadinite

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

vanadium (countable and uncountable, plural vanadiums)

A chemical element (symbol V) with atomic number 23; it is a transition metal, used in the production of special steels.

(countable) A single atom of this element.

Synonyms

• panchromium (name proposed by the mineralogist Andrés Manuel del Río)

• rionium (name proposed by the geologist George William Featherstonhaugh)

Source: Wiktionary

Va*na"di*um, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Icel. Vanadis, a surname of the Scandinavian goddess Freya.] (Chem.)

Definition: A rare element of the nitrogen-phosphorus group, found combined, in vanadates, in certain minerals, and reduced as an infusible, grayish-white metallic powder. It is intermediate between the metals and the non-metals, having both basic and acid properties. Sumbol V (or Vd, rarely). Atomic weight 51.2.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition