noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

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

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

2. 2
   a heavy brittle metallic element of the platinum group; used in alloys; occurs in natural alloys with platinum or osmium wordnet
3. 3
   A single atom of this element. countable

Synonyms

All synonyms

atomic number 77goldirironleadmetal

Example

More examples

"Iridium is one of the rarest elements."

Etymology

From international scientific vocabulary, from the New Latin.

Related phrases

eka-iridiumheterochromia iridiumiridium blackiridium oxideiridium tetrachlorideiridium trichlorideiridium-pointedplatino-iridiumplatinum-iridiumatomic number

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.