: a blue-gray or blue-black hard brittle very heavy polyvalent metallic element with a high melting point that is used especially as a catalyst and in hard alloys see Chemical Elements Table
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the WebBecause of its durability, osmium is used in electronics, as well, to make record player needles and fountain pens. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 25 Apr. 2022 While brilliant, Kolnai’s writing has the density of osmium.New York Times, 27 Dec. 2021
Word History
Etymology
Greek osmḗ "smell, odor" + -ium; osmḗ going back to *od-s-mā, noun derivative from the base of ózein "to smell, give off an odor" — more at odor
Note: The word osmium was introduced by the English chemist Smithson Tennant (1761-1815) in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1804, Part II, p. 416: "When the alkaline solution [obtained by dissolving impure platinum] is first formed, by adding water to the dry alkaline mass in the crucible, a pungent and peculiar smell is immediately perceived. This smell, as I afterwards discovered, arises from the extrication of a very volatile metallic oxide; and, as this smell is one of its most distinguishing characters, I should on that account incline to call the metal Osmium." In the same report Tennant discussed and named the element iridium (see iridium).