Meanings
nounindium (usually uncountable, plural indiums)
plural indiums
- uncountableusuallyA chemical element (symbol In) with an atomic number of 49: a soft silvery-white metal.
- uncountableusuallyA single atom of this element.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna rare soft silvery metallic element; occurs in small quantities in sphalerite
Similar
Inatomic number 49
Broader
metallic elementmetal
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-Iranian*síndʰuš
- Sanskritसिन्धु॑ (síndhu)
- Old Persian𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 (hiⁿdūš)
- Ancient GreekἸνδός (Indós)
- Ancient GreekἸνδία (Indía)
- Ancient GreekἸνδικός (Indikós)
- LatinIndicu
- Spanishíndico
- Spanishíndigo
- GermanIndigo
- New Latinindium
- Englishindium
Coined as a New Latin term from German Indigo (“indigo”), based on the color of its spectral lines.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Arabic إِنْدِيُوم
- إِنْدِيُوم (ʔindiyūm)metallic chemical element
Basque indioa
- indioametallic chemical element
Bulgarian и́ндий
- и́ндий (índij)metallic chemical element
Catalan indi
- indimetallic chemical element
Chinese Mandarin 銦 /铟
- 銦 /铟 (yīn)metallic chemical element
Czech indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Danish indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Dutch indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Esperanto indio
- indiometallic chemical element
Estonian indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Finnish indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
French indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
German Indium
- Indiummetallic chemical element
Greek ίνδιο
- ίνδιο (índio)metallic chemical element
Hebrew אִינְדְּיוּם
- אִינְדְּיוּם (índiyum)metallic chemical element
Hindi नैलातु
- नैलातु (nailātu)metallic chemical element
Hungarian indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Icelandic indín
- indínmetallic chemical element
Irish indiam
- indiammetallic chemical element
Italian indio
- indiometallic chemical element
Japanese インジウム
- インジウム (injiumu)metallic chemical element
Korean 인듐
- 인듐 (indyum)metallic chemical element
Latvian indijs
- indijsmetallic chemical element
Lithuanian indis
- indismetallic chemical element
Malay indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Norwegian indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Persian ایندیم
- ایندیم (indiyom)metallic chemical element
Polish ind
- indmetallic chemical element
Portuguese índio
- índiometallic chemical element
Romanian indiu
- indiumetallic chemical element
Russian и́ндий
- и́ндий (índij)metallic chemical element
Scottish Gaelic indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Slovak indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Spanish indio
- indiometallic chemical element
Swedish indium
- indiummetallic chemical element
Tamil இந்தியம்
- இந்தியம் (intiyam)metallic chemical element
Thai อินเดียม
- อินเดียม (in-dîiam)metallic chemical element
Turkish indiyum
- indiyummetallic chemical element
Ukrainian і́ндій
- і́ндій (índij)metallic chemical element
Vietnamese indi
- indimetallic chemical element
Welsh indiwm
- indiwmmetallic chemical element
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
indium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indium
MLA
“indium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indium. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “indium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/indium.
Source: indium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.