strontium
/ˈstɹɒn.ti.əm/ noun
Forms strontiums
- noun The metallic chemical element (symbol Sr) with an atomic number of 38. It is a soft, reactive, silvery alkaline earth metal.
- noun (countable) A single atom of this element.
Synonyms
Etymology
Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, after the earlier term strontianite, for the name of the Scottish town Strontian.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A metallic element of the calcium group, always naturally occurring combined, as in the minerals strontianite, celestite, etc. It is isolated as a yellowish metal, somewhat malleable but harder than calcium. It is chiefly employed (as in the nitrate) to color pyrotechnic flames red. Symbol Sr. Atomic weight 87.3. A radioactive isotope of strontium produced by certain nuclear reactions, and constituting one of the prominent harmful components of radioactive fallout from nuclear explosions; also called radiostrontium. It has a half-life of 28 years.
Etymology [NL. See Strontia.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “strontium”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details