rhodium

noun

rho·​di·​um ˈrō-dē-əm 

: a rare silvery-white hard ductile metallic element that is resistant to acids, sometimes occurs naturally in pure form but is usually obtained from nickel ores, and is used especially as a catalyst and in platinum alloys see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of rhodium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The lime green gemstone is set atop 925 silver plater with white rhodium and 18K gold. —Irene S. Levine, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024

What’s more, while gold is largely mined on its own (sometimes alongside copper and zinc), platinum is often mined along with a group that includes palladium, rhodium and osmium. —Ryan Ermey, CNBC, 18 Oct. 2024

The limited edition features a 41 mm titanium case and a rhodium dial with the club’s logo at six o’clock. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 27 Sep. 2024

Thieves target the car part because it can be stripped for precious metals like palladium and rhodium, which can be melted down and sold at high value. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Greek rhódon "rose" + -ium; from the rose color of a chlorine compound of the metal obtained during its isolation

Note: Name introduced by the discoverer of the metal, William Hyde wollaston, in "On a new Metal, found in crude Platina," "read June 24, 1804," Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London for the Year 1804, Part II, p. 419: "My inquiries having terminated more successfully than I had expected, I design the present Memoir to prove the existence, and to examine the properties, of another metal, hitherto unknown, which may not improperly be distinguished by the name of Rhodium, from the rose-colour of a solution of the salts containing it."

First Known Use

1804, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

rhodium

noun

rho·​di·​um ˈrōd-ē-əm 

: a rare silvery white hard metallic element that is resistant to attack by acids, occurs in nickel ores, and is used in platinum alloys see element

Medical Definition

rhodium

noun

rho·​di·​um ˈrōd-ē-əm 

: a white hard ductile metallic element that is resistant to attack by acids, occurs in platinum ores, and is used in alloys with platinum

—symbol Rh see Chemical Elements Table