osmium

noun

os·​mi·​um ˈäz-mē-əm 

: a blue-gray or blue-black hard brittle very heavy polyvalent metallic element with a high melting point that is used especially as a catalyst and in hard alloys see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of osmium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Platinum is part of the six platinum-group metals (PGM), including palladium, iridium, rhodium, ruthenium, and osmium. —Laxmi Corp, The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Sep. 2023

Your pen nib is probably osmium. —Paul Theroux, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022

The fusion crust, noted the team, included small amounts of platinum group elements so far identified only as an alloy of osmium, iridium and platinum — an unexpected finding because the process of fusion crust formation is usually too fast for the elements to accumulate. —Gemma Tarlach, Discover Magazine, 27 Aug. 2013

Word History

Etymology

Greek osmḗ "smell, odor" + -ium; osmḗ going back to *od-s-mā, noun derivative from the base of ózein "to smell, give off an odor" — more at odor

Note: The word osmium was introduced by the English chemist Smithson Tennant (1761-1815) in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1804, Part II, p. 416: "When the alkaline solution [obtained by dissolving impure platinum] is first formed, by adding water to the dry alkaline mass in the crucible, a pungent and peculiar smell is immediately perceived. This smell, as I afterwards discovered, arises from the extrication of a very volatile metallic oxide; and, as this smell is one of its most distinguishing characters, I should on that account incline to call the metal Osmium." In the same report Tennant discussed and named the element iridium (see iridium).

First Known Use

1804, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing osmium

• osmium tetroxide

• osmium tetroxide

Kids Definition

osmium

noun

os·​mi·​um ˈäz-mē-əm 

: a hard brittle blue-gray or blue-black metallic element with a high melting point that is the heaviest metal known see element

Medical Definition

osmium

noun

os·​mi·​um ˈäz-mē-əm 

: a hard brittle blue-gray or blue-black polyvalent metallic element of the platinum group with a high melting point that is the heaviest metal known and that is used especially as a catalyst and in hard alloys

—symbol Os see Chemical Elements Table