deuterium

deu·te·ri·um
D2E1U1T1E1R1I1U1M3
UK/djuːˈtɪəɹɪəm/UK/dʒuːˈtɪəɹɪəm/US/djuːˈtɪɹi.əm/

noun

An isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron in each atom - 21H.

“Heavy water is "heavy" because it contains deuterium.”

Similar
mul:H-2mul:²Hhydrogen-2hydrogen 2heavy hydrogen
OriginEnglish deutero- ← Ancient Greek δεύτερος (deúteros) ← Proto-Indo-European *dews-? →
Less commonScrabble 12
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Meanings

noundeuterium (countable and uncountable, plural deuteriums)

plural deuteriums

  1. uncountablenatural sciencesAn isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron in each atom - 21H.

    Heavy water is "heavy" because it contains deuterium.

    Synonyms: mul:H-2, mul:²H, hydrogen-2, hydrogen 2, heavy hydrogen

  2. countableAn atom of this isotope.

    There were about 80 deuteriums for every million protiums, and virtually no tritium.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounAn isotope of hydrogen with one proton and one neutron in each atom - 21H.

Similar
mul:H-2mul:²Hhydrogen-2hydrogen 2heavy hydrogen

More synonyms by meaning

nounan isotope of hydrogen which has one neutron (as opposed to zero neutrons in hydrogen)

Similar
heavy hydrogen
Broader
hydrogen atomisotope
Also see
heavy hydrogenhydrogen-2

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dews-?
  2. Ancient Greekδεύτερος (deúteros)
  3. Englishdeutero-
  4. Englishdeuterium

From deutero- + -ium. Coined by American physical chemist Harold Urey, from Ancient Greek δεύτερος (deúteros, “second”).

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans deuterium
  • deuteriumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Bengali ডিউটেরিয়াম
  • ডিউটেরিয়াম (ḍiuṭeriẏam)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Bulgarian деуте́рий
  • деуте́рий (deutérij)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Catalan deuteri
  • deuteriisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Chinese Cantonese 氘
  • 氘 (dou¹)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Chinese Mandarin 氘
  • 氘 (dāo)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Czech těžký vodík, deuterium
  • těžký vodíkisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
  • deuteriumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Dutch deuterium
  • deuteriumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Esperanto deŭterio
  • deŭterioisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Finnish raskas vety, deuterium
  • raskas vetyisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
  • deuteriumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
French deutérium
  • deutériumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
German Deuterium
  • Deuteriumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Greek δευτέριο
  • δευτέριο (deftério)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Hindi भारी उदजन
  • भारी उदजन (bhārī udjan)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Hungarian deutérium
  • deutériumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Icelandic tvívetni, þungt vetni
  • tvívetniisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
  • þungt vetniisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
  • þungavetniisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Italian deuterio
  • deuterioisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Japanese 重水素
  • 重水素 (jūsuiso)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Korean 중수소, 듀테륨
  • 중수소 (jungsuso)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
  • 듀테륨 (dyuteryum)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
  • 이중수소 (ijungsuso)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Malay deuterium
  • deuteriumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Polish deuter
  • deuterisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Portuguese deutério
  • deutérioisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Romanian deuteriu
  • deuteriuisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Russian дейте́рий, дейте́рий
  • дейте́рий (dɛjtɛ́rij)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
  • дейте́рий (dejtérij)isotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Spanish deuterio
  • deuterioisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Swedish deuterium
  • deuteriumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Tagalog dutiryum
  • dutiryumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Turkish döteryum
  • döteryumisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen
Welsh dewteriwm
  • dewteriwmisotope of hydrogen — see also heavy hydrogen

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with deuterium

Miriammycobacteriumbacteriumdeliriumimperiumcriteriumcorynebacteriumceriummagisteriumpuerperiumcyanobacteriumapteriumarchaebacteriumcollyriumelateriumenterobacteriumferroceriummeitneriumosmeteriumpsalterium
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

deuterium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deuterium

MLA

“deuterium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deuterium. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deuterium,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deuterium.

Source: deuterium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.