ruthenium
/ɹuːˈθiːniəm/ noun
Forms rutheniums
- noun A metallic chemical element (symbol Ru) with an atomic number of 44. “Their latest catalyst includes some ruthenium.”
- noun (countable) An atom of this element. “This reaction substitutes a ruthenium for an osmium.”
Synonyms
Etymology
Ruthenia + -ium. Named by Baltic German scientist Karl Ernst Claus in 1844 in honour of Russia (using the Latin name Ruthenia).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A rare element of the light platinum group, found associated with platinum ores, and isolated as a hard, brittle steel-gray metal which is very infusible. Symbol Ru. Atomic weight 103.5. Specific gravity 12.26. See Platinum metals, under Platinum.
Etymology [NL. So named from the Ruthenians, a Little Russian people, as coming from Russia, the metal having been found in the Ural mountains.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “ruthenium”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details