selenium
pronunciation
How to pronounce selenium in British English:
UK [səˈli:niəm]
How to pronounce selenium in American English:
US [sɪˈliniəm]
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- Noun:
- 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)
Word Origin
- selenium (n.)
- element name, Modern Latin, from Greek selene "moon" (see Selene). Named by Berzelius (1818), on analogy of tellurium, with which it had been at first confused, and which was named for the earth. Despite the -ium ending it is not a metal and a more appropriate name selenion has been proposed.
Example
- 1. Some residents continue to get selenium tablets .
- 2. To improve diets and increase selenium levels , schoolchildren were fed a soup made of seaweed and pork bone that contained egg whites , yellow beans and iodine .
- 3. Gradually , the data suggested a number of possible connections : residents had extremely low amounts of selenium , a trace element necessary for cells to function normally .
- 4. He cited the glass industry , which has replaced its consumption of cerium with selenium over the past year as prices of the rare earth rose to $ 135 per kilo currently from just $ 3.88 per kilo in 2009 .