platinum

/ˈplæt.ɪn.əm/

PLÆT · ɪn · əm (3 syllables)

English Noun Top 12,314

Definition

The chemical element with atomic number 78 and symbol Pt; a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, silverish-white transition metal of great value.

Etymology

From Spanish platina (“little silver”) del Pinto ("of the Pinto") + -um. It was called "little" (or "lesser") silver because the metal was found as an impurity in gold, and del Pinto for the Pinto River in Grand Columbia where Europeans discovered it being mined by Native Americans. Doublet of platina.