molybdenum
/məˈlɪbdɪnəm/
molybdenum noun: a chemical element (symbol Mo) with an atomic number of 42: a silvery metal, not found as a free element, used in steel alloys.
Noun
molybdenum (countable and uncountable, plural molybdenums)
- A chemical element (symbol Mo) with an atomic number of 42: a silvery metal, not found as a free element, used in steel alloys.
- The metals at preſent amount to 21 ; only 11 of which were known before the year 1730. Their names are gold, ſilver, platinum, mercury, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc, antimony, biſmuth, arſenic, cobalt, nickel, manganeſe, tungſten, molybdenum, uranium, tellurium, titanium, chromum.1803, “Of Metals”, in George Gleig, editor, Supplement to the Third Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 2nd edition, volume I...
- Technical terms like ferrite, perlite, graphite, and hardenite were bandied to and fro, and when Paget glibly brought out such a rare exotic as ferro-molybdenum, Benson forgot that he was a master ship-builder, […]1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 4, in Well Tackled!
- A single atom of this element.
- a quadruple bond between molybdenums
- Thus in M₄O₁₁, for example, ¾ of the molybdenums are octahedrally connected and ¼ are tetrahedrally coordinated and, furthermore, the formula is compatible with the existence of one Mo(IV) for every three Mo(VI), so at first glance the compound might appear to be a class I mixed valence system.2007, Peter Day, Molecules into Materials: Case Studies in Materials Chemistry—Mixed Valency, Magnetism and Superconductivity, page 233
molybdenum meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Gujarati and Tagalog
molybdenum in Hindi
- chemical element
- संवर्णातु samvarṇātu
molybdenum in Tamil
- chemical element
- போன்றீயம் pōṉṟīyam, மாலிப்டினம் mālipṭiṉam
molybdenum in Gujarati
- molybdenum
- સંવર્ણાતુ sãvarṇātu
molybdenum in Tagalog
- chemical element
- molibdeno
More languagesFewer languages
- molybdenum in Arabic
- مُولِبْدِينُوم mūlibdīnūm
- molybdenum in Malay
- molibdenum
- molybdenum in Thai
- โมลิบดีนัม moo-líp-dii-nâm
- molybdenum in Vietnamese
- molypđen
Examples of molybdenum in a sentence
- For example, boric acid is used to demask fluoride complexes of tin (IV) and molybdenum (VI) .
- Molybdenum disulfide is another common additive that improves the antiseize properties of wheel-bearing grease.
- Cattle and rabbits appear to be particularly intolerant of high dietary molybdenum levels.
Forms of molybdenum
| plural | molybdenums |
|---|---|
| alternative form (archaic) | molybdænum |
Origin of molybdenum
From New Latin molybdaenum, from molybdaena (“any of various substances resembling lead”), from Ancient Greek μολύβδαινα (molúbdaina, “a plummet, piece of lead”), from μόλυβδος (mólubdos, “lead; graphite”), from an Anatolian word cognate with Lydian 𐤪𐤠𐤭𐤦𐤥𐤣𐤠 (mariwda, “dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *morkʷ-iyo-, from a root *morkʷ- (“dark”), cognate with English murk. Cf. Latin plumbum nigrum 'lead'. The suffix is + -um (“a chemical element”). Attested since the last quarter of 18th century.
Words formed from molybdenum
- chromoly
- dimolybdenum
- ferromolybdenum
- moly
- molybdate
- molybdenated
- molybdenian
- molybdeniferous
- molybdenum blue
- molybdenum carbonyl
- molybdenum chloride
- molybdenum disulfide
- molybdenum disulphide
- molybdenum hexacarbonyl
- molybdenum orange
- molybdenum oxide
- molybdenum sulfide
- molybdenum sulphide
- molybdenum trioxide
- molybdian
- molybdo-
- molybdosis
- nonmolybdenum
- organomolybdenum
- phosphomolybdenum
- radiomolybdenum
- trimolybdenum
Questions about molybdenum
- What does molybdenum mean?
- Molybdenum means a chemical element (symbol Mo) with an atomic number of 42: a silvery metal, not found as a free element, used in steel alloys.
- What is molybdenum in Hindi?
- Molybdenum in Hindi is संवर्णातु (samvarṇātu). See Molybdenum meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is molybdenum?
- Molybdenum is a noun.
- How do you pronounce molybdenum?
- Molybdenum is pronounced /məˈlɪbdɪnəm/.
- What is the plural of molybdenum?
- The plural of molybdenum is molybdenums.
Words near molybdenum in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: molybdenum (page history and authors); સંવર્ણાતુ (Gujarati) (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.
Last updated:
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Cite this entry: “molybdenum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/molybdenum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.