Nife
(naɪf)
Also nife.
[f. Ni + Fe, chem. symbols for nickel and iron (L. ferrum) respectively.]
Nickel-iron; spec. [a. G. Nife (E. Suess Das Antlitz der Erde (1909) III. ii. xxiv. 626)], the earth's core or the material composing it.
| 1909 H. B. C. & W. J. Sollas tr. Suess's Face of Earth IV. xv. 544 We assume the existence of three zones..as determining the structure of the earth, namely, the barysphere or the Nife (Ni-fe), Sima (Si-Mg), and Sal (Si-Al). Ibid. 547 A nucleus of Nife and heavy metals extends from the centre outwards for three quarters of the radius. Ibid. xvii. 606 We may suppose that..these gases and with them our volcanic eruptions do not proceed from the depth of the Nife but from Sima. 1924 J. G. A. Skerl tr. Wegener's Orig. Continents & Oceans x. 146 The core of the earth, probably composed chiefly of nickel and iron, has been termed the ‘nife’ by E. Suess. 1932 J. A. Steers Unstable Earth iv. 159 Following Suess, Wegener assumed that the outer ‘skin’ of the earth was sial..; under this is the sima, and the interior core of the globe is the nife. |
| 1927 Wireless World 19 Jan. 87/1 Batteries, Limited,..have recently drawn attention to the need of floating a layer of paraffin on the electrolyte of their Nife cells. [1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIII. 158/1 In the original types of Ni-Cd (Jungner) cells the materials and structural features are quite similar to those described for the Ni-Fe cell.] |