a metallic transuranic element artificially produced from curium. Symbol: Cf; atomic no: 98; half-life of most stable isotope, 251Cf: 800 years (approx.)
Word origin
C20: New Latin; discovered at the University of California
californium in American English
(ˌkæləˈfɔrniəm)
US
noun
a radioactive, metallic chemical element, one of the actinides, produced by intense neutron bombardment of plutonium or curium: symbol, Cf; at. no., 98: an isotope (californium-252) with a half-life of 2.65 years is used as a neutron source in mining, medicine, etc.
Word origin
ModL < California + -ium: so named (1950) by the discoverers, Seaborg and associates, at the University of California
Examples of 'californium' in a sentence
californium
The californium produced neutrons which would initiate the fission reaction early.