osmium

O1S1M3I1U1M3
UK/ˈɒz.mi.əm/US/ˈɑz.mi.əm/

noun

A chemical element (symbol Os) with atomic number 76: a hard, brittle, heavy, bluish-white transition metal found as a trace element in alloys, mostly in platinum ores.

“Their latest catalyst includes some osmium.”

Similar
Osatomic number 76
OriginAncient Greek ὀσμή (osmḗ) ← Proto-Hellenic *ód͏̌d͏̌ō ← Proto-Indo-European *h₃édyeti →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounosmium (countable and uncountable, plural osmiums)

plural osmiums

  1. countableuncountablechemistryA chemical element (symbol Os) with atomic number 76: a hard, brittle, heavy, bluish-white transition metal found as a trace element in alloys, mostly in platinum ores.

    Their latest catalyst includes some osmium.

    1 more example

    This reaction substitutes a ruthenium for an osmium.

    1. countablechemistryAn atom of this element.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna hard brittle blue-grey or blue-black metallic element that is one of the platinum metals; the heaviest metal known

Similar
Osatomic number 76
Broader
metallic elementmetal
Also see
os

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₃ed-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₃édyeti
  3. Proto-Hellenic*ód͏̌d͏̌ō
  4. Ancient Greekὄζω (ózō)
  5. Ancient Greekὀσμή (osmḗ)
  6. Englishosmium

From Ancient Greek ὀσμή (osmḗ, “smell”) (because of the strong smell of its oxide) + -ium.

More words from Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Arabic أُسْمِيُوم, أُوزْمِيُوم
  • أُسْمِيُوم (ʔusmiyūm)chemical element
  • أُوزْمِيُوم (ʔūzmiyūm)chemical element
Basque osmioa
  • osmioachemical element
Bulgarian о́смий
  • о́смий (ósmij)chemical element
Catalan osmi
  • osmichemical element
Chinese Cantonese 鋨 /锇
  • 鋨 /锇 (ngo⁴)chemical element
Chinese Mandarin 鋨 /锇
  • 鋨 /锇 (é)chemical element
Czech osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Danish osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Dutch osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Esperanto osmio
  • osmiochemical element
Estonian osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Finnish osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
French osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
German Osmium
  • Osmiumchemical element
Greek όσμιο
  • όσμιο (ósmio)chemical element
Hebrew אוסמיום
  • אוסמיום (osmiyum)chemical element
Hindi गुर्वातु
  • गुर्वातु (gurvātu)chemical element
Hungarian ozmium
  • ozmiumchemical element
Icelandic osmín
  • osmínchemical element
Irish oismiam
  • oismiamchemical element
Italian osmio
  • osmiochemical element
Japanese オスミウム
  • オスミウム (osumiumu)chemical element
Korean 오스뮴
  • 오스뮴 (oseumyum)chemical element
Latin osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Latvian osmijs
  • osmijschemical element
Lithuanian osmis
  • osmischemical element
Malay osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Norwegian Bokmål osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Persian اسمیم
  • اسمیم (osmiyom)chemical element
Polish osm
  • osmchemical element
Portuguese ósmio
  • ósmiochemical element
Romanian osmiu
  • osmiuchemical element
Russian о́смий
  • о́смий (ósmij)chemical element
Scottish Gaelic oismiam
  • oismiamchemical element
Slovak osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Spanish osmio
  • osmiochemical element
Swedish osmium
  • osmiumchemical element
Tamil ஒஸ்மியம்
  • ஒஸ்மியம் (osmiyam)chemical element
Thai ออสเมียม
  • ออสเมียม (ɔ́ɔs-mîiam)chemical element
Turkish osmiyum
  • osmiyumchemical element
Ukrainian о́смій
  • о́смій (ósmij)chemical element
Vietnamese osimi, osmi
  • osimichemical element
  • osmichemical element
Welsh osmiwm
  • osmiwmchemical element
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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