technetium Hear it!

technetium definition

tech·ne·tium (tek nē′s̸hē əm, -s̸həm)

noun

a silver-gray, metallic chemical element obtained by the irradiation of molybdenum with deuterons and in the fission of uranium: it does not exist in nature and all its isotopes are radioactive: it is a superconductor, an inhibitor of metal corrosion, and a medical tracer: symbol, Tc; at. no., 43

Etymology: ModL < Gr technētos, artificial (< technasthai, to contrive by art < technē: see technic) + -ium: so named (1947) by E. G. Segré (1905-89), It-American physicist, and C. Perrier, It physicist, who discovered it (1937)

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.