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selenium

selenium definition

se·leni·um (sə lē′nē əm)

noun

a nonmetallic chemical element with several allotropic forms, used in photoelectric devices because its electrical conductivity varies with the intensity of light: also used in rectifiers, in certain electrostatic copying processes, etc.: symbol, Se; at. no., 34

Etymology: ModL: so named (1818) by Baron Jöns Jakob Berzelius < Gr selēnē, the moon (see Selene) + -ium, by analogy with tellurium, with which it was assoc. in the ore

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