Meanings
plural tantalums · alternative tantalium
- countableuncountablechemistryA chemical element (symbol Ta) with atomic number 73: a rare, hard, blue-gray, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion-resistant.
- countablechemistryAn atom of this element.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna hard grey lustrous metallic element that is highly resistant to corrosion; occurs in niobite and fergusonite and tantalite
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient GreekΤάνταλος (Tántalos)
- LatinTantalus
- New Latintantalum
- Englishtantalum
A New Latin word derived by Swedish chemist Anders Gustaf Ekeberg in 1802, from Latin Tantalus, named after Tantalus, alluding to the element's incapacity to absorb acid. See -ium.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans tantaal
- tantaalelement
Arabic تَنْتَلُوم, طَنْطَلُوم
- تَنْتَلُوم (tantalūm)element
- طَنْطَلُوم (ṭanṭalūm)element
Basque tantalioa
- tantalioaelement
Bulgarian танта́л
- танта́л (tantál)element
Catalan tàntal
- tàntalelement
Chinese Mandarin 鉭 /钽
- 鉭 /钽 (tǎn)element
Czech tantal
- tantalelement
Danish tantal
- tantalelement
Dutch tantaal, tantalium
- tantaalelement
- tantaliumelement
Esperanto tantalo
- tantaloelement
Estonian tantaal
- tantaalelement
Finnish tantaali
- tantaalielement
French tantale
- tantaleelement
German Tantal
- Tantalelement
Greek ταντάλιο
- ταντάλιο (tantálio)element
Hebrew טנטלום
- טנטלום (tantálum)element
Hindi सहातु
- सहातु (sahātu)element
Hungarian tantál
- tantálelement
Icelandic tantal
- tantalelement
Irish tantalam
- tantalamelement
Italian tantalio
- tantalioelement
Japanese タンタル
- タンタル (tantaru)element
Korean 탄탈, 탄탈룸
- 탄탈 (tantal)element
- 탄탈룸 (tantallum)element
- 탄탈럼 (tantalleom)element
Latin tantalum
- tantalumelement
Latvian tantals
- tantalselement
Lithuanian tantalas
- tantalaselement
Malay tantalum
- tantalumelement
Norwegian tantal
- tantalelement
Polish tantal
- tantalelement
Portuguese tântalo
- tântaloelement
Romanian tantal
- tantalelement
Russian танта́л
- танта́л (tantál)element
Scottish Gaelic tantalam
- tantalamelement
Slovak tantal
- tantalelement
Spanish tántalo
- tántaloelement
Swedish tantal
- tantalelement
Tamil தந்தாலம்
- தந்தாலம் (tantālam)element
Thai แทนทาลัม
- แทนทาลัม (tɛɛn-taa-lâm)element
Turkish tantal
- tantalelement
Ukrainian танта́л
- танта́л (tantál)element
Vietnamese tantali, tantan
- tantalielement
- tantanelement
Welsh tantalwm
- tantalwmelement
Cite this entry
tantalum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tantalum
“tantalum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tantalum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tantalum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tantalum.
Source: tantalum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.