aluminum
Pluralaluminums
UK spellingaluminium
- 1A chemical element with symbol Al and atomic number 13, a light, silvery metal obtained from bauxite.
Aluminum is refined from bauxite ore in a process that uses enormous amounts of electricity.
The bicycle's aluminum frame weighs far less than a comparable steel one.
Note
Chemistry named this metal on purpose: the British chemist Humphry Davy coined the word in 1812, reshaping an earlier New Latin form, alumium, from 1807, on the stem of Latin alumen. Aluminium, the longer spelling, names the same metal. As a material the word is uncountable and often stands before another noun, as in an aluminum frame or aluminum foil.
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Origin
Coined by the British chemist Humphry Davy in 1812, after the earlier New Latin form alumium of 1807. By surface analysis, it is Latin alumen + -um.