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The metallic element "cobalt" ultimately draws its name from folklore. In Middle High German, "kobolt" denoted a usually helpful household elf that engaged in nasty pranks only when it was offended. Later, early Modern German Kobold came to refer to a variety of less helpful goblins inhabiting fields and mountains. The variant "Kobolt" in the 16th century was applied by German miners to ores containing the metal cobalt, which they considered to be worthless; they believed that mountain goblins had spoiled adjacent silver ores, or had stolen the silver within the ore. The metal itself in relatively pure form was not produced and described until the 17th century, when "cobalt," with its first letter influenced by New Latin cobaltum, became part of the international language of science.
Examples of cobalt in a Sentence
John Werner, Forbes, 21 Jan. 2025
One bill, which House Ways and Means advanced in a bipartisan vote last year, would require an investigation into forced and child labor at cobalt mining sites in Congo.
—Nick Sobczyk, Axios, 15 Jan. 2025
Chinese companies also switched to lithium iron phosphate batteries, known as LFP batteries, which are safer and cheaper—although slightly lower energy density—than the lithium nickel manganese cobalt batteries preferred by Western companies.
—Jessica Bateman, WIRED, 7 Jan. 2025
After making an eye-catching arrival in a cobalt Carolina Herrera dress on Friday at the inaugural WWD Style Awards, Quinta Brunson was back on the carpet, this time for the Golden Globe awards.
—Kristen Tauer, WWD, 5 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Cobalt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cobalt. Accessed 6 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
from German Kobalt "cobalt," an altered form of Kobold, literally, "goblin"; so called because its appearance in silver ore was thought to have been the work of goblins who left it in place of silver which they stole
Medical Definition
cobalt
noun
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