Gallium

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡælɪəm/

Origin

Named by its discoverer Lecoq, after Latin Gallia ("Gaul"). It was claimed that Lecoq had named the element after himself, since gallus is the Latin translation of the French le coq, but Lecoq denied this in an article of 1877.

Full definition of gallium

Noun

1. A chemical element (symbol Ga) with an atomic number of 31; a soft bluish metal.

Synonyms

• eka-aluminium (name given by Dmitri Mendeleev to the then undiscovered element at the position of gallium in his periodic table)

Derived terms