zirconium Chem.
(zəˈkəʊnɪəm)
Also 9 zirconum.
[mod.L., f. zircon.]
A metallic element, obtained from zircon as a black powder or as a greyish crystalline substance. Symbol Zr.
| 1808 Davy in Phil. Trans. XCVIII. 353 Had I been so fortunate as to have..procured the metallic substances I was in search of, I should have proposed for them the names of silicium, alumium, zirconium, and glucium. 1812 ― Chem. Philos. 361 No substance has as yet been formed..in which zirconum can be supposed to exist free from oxygene. 1868 Fownes' Chem. 382 Zirconium..is a tetrad metal. |
| attrib. 1868 Fownes' Chem. (ed. 10) 382 Zirconium Oxide..is prepared by strongly igniting zircon. 1906 Athenæum 1 Sept. 245/3 The osmium, tantalum, and zirconium incandescent filaments of electric glow-lamps. |