Word.ws English Dictionary

coltan

/ˈkoʊlˌtæn/

coltan noun: a metallic ore, (Fe,Mn)(Ta,Nb)₂O₆, from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted.

coltan: a metallic ore, (Fe,Mn)(Ta,Nb)₂O₆, from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted
Image: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

coltan (countable and uncountable, plural coltans)

  1. A metallic ore, (Fe,Mn)(Ta,Nb)₂O₆, from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted.
    • Coltan is used for the production of tantalum capacitors.
    • […] as of 2003 over one billion cell phones were in use worldwide, so by the time the high-tech bubble approached its bursting point in 2000 and 2001, coltan had become an extremely hot commodity.2007, Elizabeth Grossman, High Tech Trash, Island Press, →ISBN, page 46

Synonyms of coltan

Forms of coltan

pluralcoltans

Origin of coltan

Blend of columbite + tantalite.

Questions about coltan

What does coltan mean?
Coltan means a metallic ore, (Fe,Mn)(Ta,Nb)₂O₆, from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted.
What part of speech is coltan?
Coltan is a noun.
How do you pronounce coltan?
Coltan is pronounced /ˈkoʊlˌtæn/.
What is the plural of coltan?
The plural of coltan is coltans.

Words near coltan in the dictionary

  1. colt's teeth
  2. colt's tooth
  3. colt's-feet
  4. colt's-foot
  5. colt's-foots
  6. coltan
  7. coltans
  8. Coltauco
  9. colted
  10. Colten
  11. colter

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: coltan (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “coltan.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coltan. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.