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The metallic element "cobalt" ultimately draws its name from folklore. In Middle High German, "kobolt" denoted a usually helpful household elf that engaged in nasty pranks only when it was offended. Later, early Modern German Kobold came to refer to a variety of less helpful goblins inhabiting fields and mountains. The variant "Kobolt" in the 16th century was applied by German miners to ores containing the metal cobalt, which they considered to be worthless; they believed that mountain goblins had spoiled adjacent silver ores, or had stolen the silver within the ore. The metal itself in relatively pure form was not produced and described until the 17th century, when "cobalt," with its first letter influenced by New Latin cobaltum, became part of the international language of science.
Examples of cobalt in a Sentence
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 19 Sep. 2025
Many of these supply chains hinge on access to specific materials, such as copper and cobalt from the Democratic Republic of Congo or rare earths mined and refined largely under China’s control.
—Koray Köse, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
Now, the decimation of the environment and indigenous people across the world, from the palm oil plantations of Indonesia to the cobalt mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has reached the shores of Great Nicobar.
—M. Rajshekhar, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
China now dominates the supply chain for battery materials, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese, as well as the rare earth minerals used in electric motors.
—Jeremy J. Michalek, The Conversation, 8 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Cobalt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cobalt. Accessed 26 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
from German Kobalt "cobalt," an altered form of Kobold, literally, "goblin"; so called because its appearance in silver ore was thought to have been the work of goblins who left it in place of silver which they stole
Medical Definition
cobalt
noun
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