What does "radium" mean?
The chemical element (symbol Ra) with an atomic number of 88. It is a soft, shiny and silvery radioactive alkaline earth metal.
Radium
/ˈɹeɪ.dɪ.əm/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The chemical element (symbol Ra) with an atomic number of 88. It is a soft, shiny and silvery radioactive alkaline earth metal.
- Grammar: radium is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: ra, acid, actual cautery, americium.
- Useful contrasts: nonluminous paint, nonradioactive metal, opaque coating.
- Usage evidence: It was Marie Curie who discovered radium.
How to use "radium"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "radium" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "radium" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "radium" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "radium" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "radium" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "ra" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "radium", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The chemical element (symbol Ra) with an atomic number of 88. It is a soft, shiny and silvery radioactive alkaline earth metal. countable, uncountable
"Madame [Marie] Curie, working with her distinguished husband, isolated and first traced to its true origin the source of the marvellous power which has thus commenced to revolutionise our philosophy of physics. This new element has appropriately been named "Radium;" but it has also been shown that there are many other, though less powerful, radio-active elements, details of which are recorded in the sequel. To be precise, radium, per se, has not yet been isolated as a metal, but only in the form of salts,—chlorides and bromides. [...] It is supposed that the molecules of radium (composed of similar atoms) during their decomposition into those of the gas helium, are also frittered down into heat and, in part, are liberated as radio-activity."
- 2 an intensely radioactive metallic element that occurs in minute amounts in uranium ores wordnet
- 3 A type of cloth woven from silk or synthetic yarn, often with a shiny appearance. countable, dated, uncountable
"City retailers are doing well with high-class radiums printed in bright greens, brilliant purples and strong yellows. Such are the high novelties."
Verb
- 1 To treat (a tumour, etc.) with radium. ambitransitive, obsolete
"We want popular verbs for several operations introduced by modern science. The X-rays, the Finsen treatment for lupus, the operation of radium for cancer, and what not—what are the words for these? A man is guillotined or hanged; his leg is amputated; he is trepanned. What is it when he is rayed, Finsened, radiumed? [From the St. James's Gazette.]"
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
nonluminous paintnonradioactive metalopaque coatingstable metal
Example
"It was Marie Curie who discovered radium."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "radium"?
Common synonyms include: ra, acid, actual cautery, americium, astatine, atomic cocktail.
How do you use "radium" in a sentence?
It was Marie Curie who discovered radium.
How do you pronounce "radium"?
Pronounced /ˈɹeɪ.dɪ.əm/.
Etymology
Borrowed from French radium, from rad(ioactif) (“radioactive”) + -ium (suffix used to form the names of metallic elements).