germanium

Etymology

From Latin Germānia (“Germany”) + -ium.

noun

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 fashion, but at appreciably higher temperatures, i.e., at approximately 600° C in silicon and 400° C in germanium. 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 Press, →OCLC, page 5
2. (countable) An atom of this element.