iridium

noun

irid·​i·​um i-ˈri-dē-əm 

: a rare silver-white hard brittle very heavy metallic element see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of iridium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Researchers create antiprotons by smashing regular protons at close to the speed of light against a block made of a metal called iridium. —Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 27 Mar. 2026

Season 5 takes place in the 2010s in the aftermath of the iridium-rich Goldilocks asteroid heist from last season. —Jeff Spry, Space.com, 27 Mar. 2026

An iridium metal complex was specifically identified as a promising antibiotic drug. —Devika Rao, TheWeek, 2 Feb. 2026

The team is now working to understand exactly how the iridium compound attacks bacteria and plans to expand the robotic system to explore other metals and applications, according to findings published in Nature Communications. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 23 Dec. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Greek īrid-, îris "rainbow, iridescent halo around the moon, a flame, etc., iris entry 1" + New Latin -ium -ium; from the colors produced by dissolving it in hydrochloric acid

Note: The word iridium was introduced by the English chemist Smithson Tennant (1761-1815) in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1804, Part II, p. 414: "As it is necessary to give some name to bodies which have not been known before, and most convenient to indicate by it some characteristic property, I should incline to call this metal Iridium, from the striking variety of colours which it gives, while dissolving in marine acid." See also osmium.

First Known Use

1804, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for iridium

• clostridium
• cranidium
• cymbidium
• peridium
• presidium
• pygidium
• rubidium
• cryptosporidium
• idiom

Kids Definition

iridium

noun

irid·​i·​um ir-ˈid-ē-əm 

: a rare silver-white hard brittle very heavy metallic element see element

Medical Definition

iridium

noun

irid·​i·​um ir-ˈid-ē-əm 

: a silver-white hard brittle very heavy metallic element of the platinum group used especially in hardening platinum for alloys (as for surgical instruments)

—symbol Ir see Chemical Elements Table