Meanings
plural seleniums
- uncountableusuallyA nonmetallic chemical element (symbol Se) with an atomic number of 34, used mainly in glassmaking and pigments and as a semiconductor.
Pluck almost any cell from your body and it will have a million or more selenium atoms in it.
2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 4 - uncountableusuallyAn atom of this element.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna toxic nonmetallic element related to sulfur and tellurium; occurs in several allotropic forms; a stable grey metallike allotrope conducts electricity better in the light than in the dark and is used in photocells; occurs in sulfide ores (as pyrite)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekσελήνη“moon”
- Frenchsélénium
- Englishselenium
From French sélénium, the name coined by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1818 from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) in reference to original confusion with the similar element tellurium.
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans seleen, selenium
- seleenchemical element
- seleniumchemical element
Arabic سِيلِينِيُوم
- سِيلِينِيُوم (sīlīniyūm)chemical element
Basque selenioa
- selenioachemical element
Bulgarian селе́н
- селе́н (selén)chemical element
Catalan seleni
- selenichemical element
Chinese Mandarin 硒
- 硒 (xī)chemical element
Czech selen
- selenchemical element
Danish selen
- selenchemical element
Dutch seleen, selenium
- seleenchemical element
- seleniumchemical element
Esperanto seleno
- selenochemical element
Estonian seleen
- seleenchemical element
Finnish seleeni
- seleenichemical element
French sélénium
- séléniumchemical element
German Selen
- Selenchemical element
Greek σελήνιο
- σελήνιο (selínio)chemical element
Hebrew סלניום
- סלניום (selenyum)chemical element
Hindi मेचाग्नि
- मेचाग्नि (mecāgni)chemical element
Hungarian szelén
- szelénchemical element
Icelandic selen
- selenchemical element
Irish seiléiniam
- seiléiniamchemical element
Italian selenio
- seleniochemical element
Japanese セレン
- セレン (seren)chemical element
Korean 셀렌, 셀레늄
- 셀렌 (sellen)chemical element
- 셀레늄 (sellenyum)chemical element
Latin selēnium
- selēniumchemical element
Latvian selēns
- selēnschemical element
Lithuanian selenas
- selenaschemical element
Malay selenium
- seleniumchemical element
Norwegian selen
- selenchemical element
Polish selen
- selenchemical element
Portuguese selénio, selênio
- seléniochemical element
- selêniochemical element
Romanian seleniu
- seleniuchemical element
Russian селе́н
- селе́н (selén)chemical element
Scottish Gaelic selenium
- seleniumchemical element
Slovak selén
- selénchemical element
Spanish selenio
- seleniochemical element
Swedish selen
- selenchemical element
Tagalog selenyo
- selenyochemical element
Tamil செங்கந்தகம்
- செங்கந்தகம் (ceṅkantakam)chemical element
Thai ซีลีเนียม
- ซีลีเนียม (sii-lii-nîiam)chemical element
Turkish selenyum
- selenyumchemical element
Ukrainian селе́н
- селе́н (selén)chemical element
Welsh seleniwm
- seleniwmchemical element
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with selenium
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
selenium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selenium
“selenium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selenium. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “selenium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/selenium.
Source: selenium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.