selenium

Chemical element
Se
Previous: arsenic (As)
Next: bromine (Br)

From French sélénium, the name coined by Swedish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in 1818 from Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) in reference to original confusion with the similar element tellurium.^[1]

• (UK, US) enPR: sĭlēn′ēəm, səlēn′ēəm, IPA^(key): /sɪˈliːni.əm/, /səˈliːni.əm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːniəm

selenium (usually uncountable, plural seleniums)

2. A nonmetallic chemical element (symbol Se) with an atomic number of 34, used mainly in glassmaking and pigments and as a semiconductor.

   Hypernym: chalcogen

   • 2019, Bill Bryson, The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Black Swan (2020), page 4:

     Pluck almost any cell from your body and it will have a million or more selenium atoms in it.

3. A single atom of this element.

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Selenium”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “selenium”, in Mindat.org‎^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.

• selenium on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Melusine, emulsine, semilune, seminule

Chemical element
Se
Previous: arseen (As)
Next: broom (Br)

• Audio:

  (file)

selenium (uncountable)

1. Synonym of seleen (“selenium”)

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛlɛːnɪjum]
• Hyphenation: se‧le‧nium

selenium n

1. Alternative form of selen

• “selenium”, in Kartotéka Novočeského lexikálního archivu (in Czech)
• “selenium”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Borrowed from New Latin selēnium, a word coined by Swedish chemist Berzelius in 1818, from Ancient Greek Σελήνη (Selḗnē, “moon”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): /səˈleː.ni.ʏm/, /seːˈleː.ni.ʏm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: se‧le‧ni‧um

selenium n (uncountable)

1. selenium [from 1818]

   Synonym: seleen

Chemical element
Se
Previous: arsenicum (As)
Next: bromium (Br)

From Ancient Greek Σελήνη (Selḗnē, “moon”) + -ium.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /seˈleː.ni.um/, [s̠ɛˈɫ̪eːniʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /seˈle.ni.um/, [seˈlɛːnium]

selēnium n (genitive selēniī); second declension

1. (New Latin) selenium

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	selēnium	selēnia
Genitive	selēniī	selēniōrum
Dative	selēniō	selēniīs
Accusative	selēnium	selēnia
Ablative	selēniō	selēniīs
Vocative	selēnium	selēnia

Chemical element
Se
Previous: arsenik (As)
Next: bromin (Br)

From English selenium, from New Latin, from Ancient Greek Σελήνη (Selḗnē).

• IPA^(key): [selɛniom]
• Rhymes: -iom, -jom, -om

selenium

1. selenium (chemical element)

selenium n (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of seleniu