gallium

noun
gal·​li·​um | \ ˈga-lē-əm How to pronounce gallium (audio) \

Definition of gallium

: a bluish-white metallic element obtained especially as a by-product in refining various ores and used especially in semiconductors and optoelectronic devices — see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of gallium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Officials told us it's basically the equal of a indium gallium solder on the new chip. Gordon Mah Ung, PCWorld, "AMD's new Ryzen 3000 APUs give budget gamers an affordable taste of Radeon Vega," 12 June 2019 But just imagine skaters doing triple axels on a silvery mirror gallium surface. Brian Resnick, Vox, "The surprising science of why ice is so slippery," 31 Jan. 2019 His favorite one included chapters describing rare elements like palladium and gallium. Quanta Magazine, "A Grand Vision for the Impossible," 12 Aug. 2014 Well, partnered with manufacturers of silicon and GaN, gallium nitride. Gautam Srikishan, The Verge, "Anker CEO Steven Yang is all in on USB-C," 6 Nov. 2018 The patent describes how a laser diode can be configured to emit pulses of laser light using a circuit that includes an inductor and a gallium nitride transistor. Mark Harris, Ars Technica, "Vigilante engineer stops Waymo from patenting key lidar technology," 1 Oct. 2018 Thin is in The researchers focused on thin-film technology, which is dominated by two materials: cadmium telluride (often called cadtel) and CIGS, or copper indium gallium selenide. John Timmer, Ars Technica, "Installation costs so much that it’s better to use expensive solar panels," 2 May 2018 The plutonium-gallium alloy of the demon core was hot-pressed into two hemispheres and then coated with a thin layer of nickel to protect the plutonium from rusting; joining these two hemispheres together completed its manufacture. Julian G. West, The Atlantic, "The Atomic-Bomb Core That Escaped World War II," 2 Apr. 2018 Instead of a color filter with an organic makeup (the 'O' in OLED), MicroLED has an inorganic color filter made of gallium nitrade, which should give MircoLEDs a longer life, and immunity to problems like burn-in. Eric Limer, Popular Mechanics, "Apple Reportedly Has a Secret Screen Factory," 19 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gallium.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of gallium

1875, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for gallium

borrowed from New Latin, from Gallia "Gaul, France" (going back to Latin) + -ium -ium

Note: The element was named by the first person to isolate it, the French chemist Paul-Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1838-1912), reported in "Caractères chimiques et spectroscopiques dʼun nouveau métal, le Gallium, découvert dns une blende de la mine de Pierrefitte, vallée dʼArgelès," Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de lʼAcadémie des Sciences, tome 81 (juillet-décembre 1875), pp. 493-95. In a later publication, Lecoq de Boisbaudran explained the origin of the name: " … jʼai aperçu les premiers indices de lʼexistence dʼun nouvel élément, que jʼai nommé «gallium» en lʼhonneur de la France (Gallia)" (" … I perceived the first signs of the existence of a new element, which I named "gallium" in honor of France (Gallia)") ("Sur un nouveau métal, le gallium," Annales de chimie et de physique, 5. série, tome 10 [1877], p. 103). The later hypothesis that gallium was formed from Latin gallus "cock," as a translation of the chemistʼs surname "Lecoq," is without apparent foundation. (Though the evidence is clear, there is on the other hand no indication that Lecoq de Boisbaudran ever explicitly denied the association.)

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More Definitions for gallium

gallium

noun
gal·​li·​um | \ ˈgal-ē-əm How to pronounce gallium (audio) \

Medical Definition of gallium

: a rare bluish white metallic element that is hard and brittle at low temperatures but melts just above room temperature and expands on freezing and that is used in the form of its hydrated nitrate salt Ga(NO3)3·9H2O to treat hypercalcemia caused by certain cancers symbol Ga — see Chemical Elements Table

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