Definition of gallium
:a bluish-white metallic element obtained especially as a by-product in refining various ores and used especially in semiconductors and optoelectronic devices — see Chemical Elements Table
-
Trending Now:
More Trending:
- dotage, dotard otherwise federalism bodega carceral
- ALL
What's Trending Now
More Trending Words
People Are Reading
Recent Examples of gallium from the Web
-
Gallium installs easily using the chrx command-line utility as a dual-boot system side by side with Chrome OS.
-
Gallium: Not atomic number 31 If running Linux in a chroot doesn’t do it for you, then Gallium OS is worth a look.
-
One possibility is Aixtron’s leading position making technology that creates chips based on an advanced semiconductor material called gallium nitride.
-
The would-be investor in Lumileds, GSR Ventures, also holds a stake in Lattice Power, a Chinese company that has been vocal about its efforts to develop technology related to gallium nitride and silicon.
-
A second contract, this one with Darpa, involves developing gallium nitride (GaN) as a semiconductor for missile defense radars.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gallium.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of gallium
borrowed from New Latin, from Gallia "Gaul, France" (going back to Latin) + -ium -ium
Note:
The element was named by the first person to isolate it, the French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1838-1912), reported in "Caractères chimiques et spectroscopiques dʼun nouveau métal, le Gallium, découvert dns une blende de la mine de Pierrefitte, vallée dʼArgelès," Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de lʼAcadémie des Sciences, tome 81 (juillet-décembre 1875), pp. 493-95. In a later publication, Lecoq de Boisbaudran explained the origin of the name: " … jʼai aperçu les premiers indices de lʼexistence dʼun nouvel élément, que jʼai nommé «gallium» en lʼhonneur de la France (Gallia)" (" … I perceived the first signs of the existence of a new element, which I named "gallium" in honor of France (Gallia)") ("Sur un nouveau métal, le gallium," Annales de chimie et de physique, 5. série, tome 10 [1877], p. 103). The later hypothesis that gallium was formed from Latin gallus "cock," as a translation of the chemistʼs surname "Lecoq," is without apparent foundation. (Though the evidence is clear, there is on the other hand no indication that Lecoq de Boisbaudran ever explicitly denied the association.)
Medical Dictionary
gallium
play
noun
gal·li·um
\
ˈgal-ē-əm
\
medical Definition of gallium
:a rare bluish white metallic element that is hard and brittle at low temperatures but melts just above room temperature and expands on freezing and that is used in the form of its hydrated nitrate salt Ga(NO3)3·9H2O to treat hypercalcemia caused by certain cancers
—symbol Ga
— see Chemical Elements Table
Learn More about gallium
-
See words that rhyme with gallium Spanish Central: Translation of gallium Nglish: Translation of gallium for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about gallium
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up gallium? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!