iridium

I1R1I1D2I1U1M3
/ɪˈɹɪd.i.əm/

noun

(uncountable) A chemical element with an atomic number of 77: a very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group.

Similar
Iratomic number 77
OriginNew Latin iridium ← Latin iris ← Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris) →
Less commonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nouniridium (countable and uncountable, plural iridiums)

plural iridiums

  1. countableuncountablechemistry(uncountable) A chemical element with an atomic number of 77: a very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group.

    Iridium is extremely rare on the surface of the earth but much more common in meteorites.

    2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Picador, →ISBN, page 75
    1. countablechemistryAn atom of this element.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna heavy brittle metallic element of the platinum group; used in alloys; occurs in natural alloys with platinum or osmium

Similar
Iratomic number 77
Broader
metallic elementmetal

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Hellenic*wī́ris
  2. Ancient Greekἶρις (îris)
  3. Latiniris
  4. New Latiniridium
  5. Englishiridium

From international scientific vocabulary, from New Latin iridium, from Classical Latin iris + -ium, from Ancient Greek ἶρις (îris, “rainbow”), because of the bright colour of many of the element's salts.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Arabic إِرِيدِيُوم
  • إِرِيدِيُوم (ʔirīdiyūm)chemical element
Basque iridioa
  • iridioachemical element
Bengali ঘনাতু
  • ঘনাতু (ghonatu)chemical element
Bulgarian ири́дий
  • ири́дий (irídij)chemical element
Catalan iridi
  • iridichemical element
Chinese Mandarin 銥 /铱
  • 銥 /铱 (yī)chemical element
Czech iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Danish iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Dutch iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Esperanto iridio
  • iridiochemical element
Estonian iriidium
  • iriidiumchemical element
Finnish iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
French iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
German Iridium
  • Iridiumchemical element
Greek ιρίδιο
  • ιρίδιο (irídio)chemical element
Hebrew אירידיום
  • אירידיום (irídyum)chemical element
Hindi घनातु
  • घनातु (ghanātu)chemical element
Hungarian irídium
  • irídiumchemical element
Icelandic iridín
  • iridínchemical element
Irish iridiam
  • iridiamchemical element
Italian iridio
  • iridiochemical element
Japanese イリジウム, 銥
  • イリジウム (irijiumu)chemical element
  • 銥chemical element
Korean 이리듐
  • 이리듐 (iridyum)chemical element
Latin iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Latvian irīdijs
  • irīdijschemical element
Lithuanian iridis
  • iridischemical element
Malay iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Norwegian Bokmål iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Persian ایریدیم
  • ایریدیم (iridiyom)chemical element
Polish iryd
  • irydchemical element
Portuguese irídio
  • irídiochemical element
Romanian iridiu
  • iridiuchemical element
Russian ири́дий
  • ири́дий (irídij)chemical element
Scottish Gaelic iridiam
  • iridiamchemical element
Slovak irídium
  • irídiumchemical element
Spanish iridio
  • iridiochemical element
Swedish iridium
  • iridiumchemical element
Tamil இரிடியம், உறுதியம்
  • இரிடியம் (iriṭiyam)chemical element
  • உறுதியம் (uṟutiyam)chemical element
Thai อิริเดียม
  • อิริเดียม (ì-rí-dîiam)chemical element
Turkish iridyum
  • iridyumchemical element
Ukrainian іри́дій
  • іри́дій (irýdij)chemical element
Vietnamese iriđi
  • iriđichemical element
Welsh iridiwm
  • iridiwmchemical element
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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