ruthenium
noun/ruːˈθiːniəm/
/ruːˈθiːniəm/
[uncountable] (symbol Ru)
- a chemical element. Ruthenium is a hard silver-white metal that breaks easily and is found in platinum ores.Word Originmid 19th cent.: modern Latin, from medieval Latin Ruthenia named after the Ruthenes (from medieval Latin Rutheni), a Slavic people, ancestors of the Ukrainians. The metal was so named because it was discovered in ores from the Urals.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
ruthenium