Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A silvery-white, ductile metallic element, the most abundant in the earth's crust but found only in combination, chiefly in bauxite. Having good conductive and thermal properties, it is used to form many hard, light, corrosion-resistant alloys. Atomic number 13; atomic weight 26.9815; melting point 660.32°C; boiling point 2,519°C; specific gravity 2.70; valence 3. cross-reference: Periodic Table.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as aluminium.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The metallic element forming the base of alumina. This metal is white, but with a bluish tinge, and is remarkable for its resistance to oxidation, and for its lightness, having a specific gravity of about 2.6. Atomic weight 27.08. Symbol Al. Also called aluminium.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A metallic chemical element (symbol Al) with an atomic number of 13.
  • noun slang Aircraft or other machinery made partially or wholly of aluminum.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a silvery ductile metallic element found primarily in bauxite

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[alumin(a) + –(i)um.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Named in 1812 by British chemist Sir Humphry Davy who discovered it, after the earlier 1807 New Latin form alumium.

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