Osmium

//ˈɑz.mi.əm// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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. countable, uncountable

    "Their latest catalyst includes some osmium."

  2. 2
    a hard brittle blue-grey or blue-black metallic element that is one of the platinum metals; the heaviest metal known wordnet
  3. 3
    A single atom of this element. countable

    "This reaction substitutes a ruthenium for an osmium."

Synonyms

All synonyms
atomic number 76goldironleadmetalos

Example

More examples

"Osmium is the name for the element with atomic number 76 and is represented by the symbol Os. It is a member of the transition metal group."

Etymology

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

Related phrases

eka-osmiumosmium dioxideosmium lamposmium tetraoxideosmium tetroxideatomic number

More for "osmium"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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