Meanings
nounprecious metal (countable and uncountable, plural precious metals)
plural precious metals
- countableuncountableA rare metallic chemical element of high economic value, such as gold, platinum, palladium, or rhodium.
The reason for the ruckus: A thief in the night had made off with the car’s catalytic converter, a critical emissions-control device that contains precious metals more valuable than gold.
2021 February 9, Hiroko Tabuchi, “Thieves Nationwide Are Slithering Under Cars, Swiping Catalytic Converters”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Translations
Catalan metall preciós
- metall preciósmetallic element with high economic value
Chinese Mandarin 貴金屬 /贵金属, 貴重金屬 /贵重金属
- 貴金屬 /贵金属 (guìjīnshǔ)metallic element with high economic value
- 貴重金屬 /贵重金属 (guìzhòng jīnshǔ)metallic element with high economic value
Czech drahý kov
- drahý kovmetallic element with high economic value
Danish ædelmetal
- ædelmetalmetallic element with high economic value
Finnish arvometalli
- arvometallimetallic element with high economic value
French métal précieux
- métal précieuxmetallic element with high economic value
German Edelmetall
- Edelmetallmetallic element with high economic value
Greek πολύτιμο μέταλλο
- πολύτιμο μέταλλο (polýtimo métallo)metallic element with high economic value
Hungarian nemesfém
- nemesfémmetallic element with high economic value
Japanese 貴金属
- 貴金属 (kikinzoku)metallic element with high economic value
Korean 귀금속
- 귀금속 (gwigeumsok)metallic element with high economic value
Latvian dārgmetāls
- dārgmetālsmetallic element with high economic value
Malay logam berharga, logam bernilai
- logam berhargametallic element with high economic value
- logam bernilaimetallic element with high economic value
Polish kruszec, metal szlachetny
- kruszecmetallic element with high economic value
- metal szlachetnymetallic element with high economic value
Portuguese metal precioso
- metal preciosometallic element with high economic value
Romanian metal prețios
- metal prețiosmetallic element with high economic value
Russian драгоце́нный мета́лл
- драгоце́нный мета́лл (dragocénnyj metáll)metallic element with high economic value
Spanish metal precioso
- metal preciosometallic element with high economic value
Swedish ädelmetall
- ädelmetallmetallic element with high economic value
Thai โลหะมีค่า
- โลหะมีค่าmetallic element with high economic value
Vietnamese kim loại quý, kim khí quý
- kim loại quýmetallic element with high economic value
- kim khí quýmetallic element with high economic value
Cite this entry
APA
precious metal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precious%20metal
MLA
“precious metal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precious%20metal. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “precious metal,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/precious%20metal.
Source: precious metal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.