# aluminium

Pronunciation: UK/AUS say "al-yuh-MIN-ee-um" /ˌæl.(j)ʊˈmɪn.i.əm/; US say "al-yoo-MIN-ee-um" /ˌæl.(j)uˈmɪn.i.əm/

## Noun

1. A light metal with a silvery colour, obtained from bauxite: the chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13.
   - Simple: A light, silver-coloured metal and chemical element that is taken from a rock called bauxite.
   - _The frame is made of aluminium, so the whole bike weighs less than nine kilos._
   - _Producing aluminium from bauxite uses huge amounts of electricity._
2. Aircraft and other machines, referred to by the metal they are partly or wholly built from. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Aeroplanes and other machines, when people call them by the metal they are partly or fully made of.
   - _By nine o'clock there was enough aluminium on the apron to fill every gate twice over._
   - _The mechanics worked through the night to get the damaged aluminium back into the air._

## Other meanings

- (noun) An individual atom of the element aluminium.

## Origin

First recorded in 1811, a year before aluminum, which Humphry Davy coined in 1812. It is formed from Latin alūmen + -ium.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/aluminium (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).