a ductile white superconductive metallic element that occurs principally in columbite and tantalite: used in steel alloys. Symbol: Nb; atomic no: 41; atomic wt: 92.90638; valency: 2, 3, or 5; relative density: 8.57; melting pt: 2469±10°C; boiling pt: 4744°C
Former name: columbium
Word origin
C19: from New Latin, from Niobe (daughter of Tantalus), so named because it occurred in tantalite
niobium in American English
(naɪˈoʊbiəm)
noun
a gray or white, metallic chemical element, somewhat ductile and malleable, used in alloy steels, superconducting alloys, in jet engines and rockets, etc.: symbol, Nb; at. no., 41
Word origin
ModL: so named (1844) by H. Rose (1795-1864), Ger chemist (for earlier columbium) < Gr Niobē (because of its close relationship to tantalum) + -ium: see Niobe & tantalum
Examples of 'niobium' in a sentence
niobium
Niobium is a soft metal that is used in specialist steelmaking to boost the strength of alloys.