tellurium

noun

tel·​lu·​ri·​um tə-ˈlu̇r-ē-əm 

te-

: a semimetallic element that occurs in a silvery-white brittle crystalline form of metallic luster, in a dark amorphous form, or combined with metals and that is used especially in alloys and catalysts see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of tellurium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The effect depends on how much the zinc oxide and tellurium layers overlap inside the structure. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 June 2026

Copper: An Economic and Strategic Imperative At full production, Resolution could yield more than 40 billion pounds of copper over decades, along with critical co-products including molybdenum, silver, tellurium, indium, and bismuth. —David Blackmon, Forbes.com, 31 May 2026

In addition to gold and copper, the drilling found tellurium, a metal used in the production of solar cells. —Laura Schulte, jsonline.com, 29 Sep. 2025

One of the study’s clear limits is that the researchers based their calculations on high future growth rates for thin-film solar panels, which depend heavily on indium, cadmium, tellurium, and tin. —Alexander C. Kaufman, The Atlantic, 11 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Latin tellur-, tellus earth

First Known Use

1800, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tellurium

• curium

Kids Definition

tellurium

noun

tel·​lu·​ri·​um tə-ˈlu̇r-ē-əm 

te-

: an element that occurs in a silvery white brittle form having a metallic shine or in combination with metals and is used especially in alloys and catalysts see element

Medical Definition

tellurium

noun

tel·​lu·​ri·​um tə-ˈlu̇r-ē-əm, te- 

: a semimetallic element related to selenium and sulfur that occurs in a silvery white brittle crystalline form of metallic luster, in a dark amorphous form, or combined with metals and that is used especially in alloys

—symbol Te see Chemical Elements Table