Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A soft, silvery-white or yellowish-white alkaline-earth metal, used to deoxidize copper and to absorb trace gases in vacuum tubes, and used in various alloys. Atomic number 56; atomic weight 137.33; melting point 727°C; boiling point 1,897°C; specific gravity 3.62; valence 2. cross-reference: Periodic Table.
  • noun A radiopaque solution containing barium sulfate that is used to visualize the gastrointestinal tract on x-rays.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Chemical symbol, Ba; atomic weight, 137.1. A chemical element belonging to the group of metals whose oxids are the alkaline earths.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) One of the elements, belonging to the alkaline earth group; a metal having a silver-white color, and melting at a very high temperature. It is difficult to obtain the pure metal, from the facility with which it becomes oxidized in the air. Atomic weight, 137. Symbol, Ba. Its oxide called baryta.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A metallic chemical element (symbol Ba) with an atomic number of 56.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a soft silvery metallic element of the alkali earth group; found in barite

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[bar(yta) + –ium.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From baryta +‎ -ium.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word barium.

Examples

  • In their attempt to separate radium from bismuth, both contained in pitchblende, Marie and Pierre found that by crystallizing the chloride of radioactive barium from a solution, they obtained crystals that were more radioactive and richer in radium than the chloride which remained resolved.

    Trafficking Materials and Gendered Experimental Practices: Radium Research in Early 20th Century Vienna 2007

  • The barium is thick and white and coats everything as you swallow it, and somehow this makes everything show up on the x-ray.

    Rescue Me 2006

  • The water is also often laden with barium, which is found in underground ore deposits and can cause high blood pressure, and radium, a naturally occurring radioactive substance.

    State Allows Disposal Of 'Fracking' Pollution In Waterways AP 2011

  • The water is also often laden with barium, which is found in underground ore deposits and can cause high blood pressure, and radium, a naturally occurring radioactive substance.

    State Allows Disposal Of 'Fracking' Pollution In Waterways AP 2011

  • UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you indeed find lead antimony barium, which is confirmed gunshot residue, on that robe?

    CNN Transcript Feb 21, 2005 2005

  • All igneous rocks contain at least a trace of barium, which is probably present in the silicates, and these small quantities are the ultimate source of the more concentrated deposits.

    The Economic Aspect of Geology 1915

  • The water is also often laden with barium, which is found in underground ore deposits and can cause high blood pressure, and radium, a naturally occurring radioactive substance.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • The water is also often laden with barium, which is found in underground ore deposits and can cause high blood pressure, and radium, a naturally occurring radioactive substance.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • The water is also often laden with barium, which is found in underground ore deposits and can cause high blood pressure, and radium, a naturally occurring radioactive substance.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

  • The water is also often laden with barium, which is found in underground ore deposits and can cause high blood pressure, and radium, a naturally occurring radioactive substance.

    Yahoo! News: Business - Opinion 2011

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Ba.

    December 16, 2007