Uranium

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /jʊˈɹeɪniəm/

Definitions

1. A heavy radioactive metallic element with atomic number 92, used as fuel in nuclear reactors and weapons, and found naturally in small quantities in Earth's crust
2. A dense radioactive metallic chemical element (atomic number 92) that serves as nuclear fuel and occurs naturally in the Earth's crust
3. A naturally occurring heavy metal with radioactive properties (atomic number 92) commonly employed in nuclear power generation and weapons production

Etymology: Uranium is named after a planet that had not yet been discovered when the element's ancestors were first isolated. The planet Uranus, found by William Herschel in 1781, gave its name to the element in 1789, when the German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth announced that he had identified a new metal in pitchblende. Klaproth named it after the planet, which had been discovered only eight years earlier and was then the newest known body in the solar system. The planet itself takes its name from Ouranos, the Greek personification of the sky and the father of the Titans. Herschel had wanted to name his discovery after King George III, but the astronomical community settled on a mythological name in keeping with the other planets. Klaproth followed the same pattern, and the "-ium" ending was added to mark the new name as a metallic element, in the manner of other elements of the period.

Synonyms: radioactive element, actinide