noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A chemical element (symbol Zr) with an atomic number of 40, a strong, lustrous, grey-white transition metal mainly used as a refractory and opacifier. countable, uncountable

   "Do you like how I dance? / I've got zirconium pants / Consequential enough / To slip you into a trance"

2. 2
   a lustrous grey strong metallic element resembling titanium; it is used in nuclear reactors as a neutron absorber; it occurs in baddeleyite but is obtained chiefly from zircon wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

atomic number 40goldironleadmetalsilver

Example

More examples

"Zirconium alloys are often used in nuclear reactors because they resist corrosion in hot water."

Etymology

From a New Latin coinage, from zircon. Doublet of jargonium.

Related phrases

cubic zirconium oxidepotassium zirconium fluoridezirconium carbidezirconium dioxidezirconium nitridezirconium oxidezirconium tetrachlorideatomic number

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