germanium

Noun

germanium (countable and uncountable, plural germaniums)

1. A nonmetallic chemical element (symbol Ge) with an atomic number of 32: a lustrous, hard-brittle, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group.
   • This equipment, which includes transformers, germanium rectifiers and smoothing apparatus, has been designed to allow the existing electric multiple-unit traction motors to operate on rectified alternating current.1959 March, “Talking of Trains: New B.R. locomotive orders”, in Trains Illustrated, page 118
   • The isolated disordered regions and the amorphous layer have widely different anneal behavior. In the case of germanium and silicon, the isolated disordered regions anneal at moderate temperatures of approximately 200° and 300° C, respectively. The amorphous layers also anneal in a characteristic...1970, James W[alter] Mayer, Lennart Eriksson, John A[rthur] Davies, “General Features of Ion Implantation”, in Ion Implantation in Semiconductors: Silicon and Germanium, New York, N.Y.: Academic...
2. (countable) An atom of this element.