platiniridiumn.
/ˌplatᵻnᵻˈrɪdɪəm/, U.S. /ˈˌplætnˌɪˈrɪdiəm/ Mineralogy and Metallurgy.
An alloy of platinum and iridium, esp. when occurring naturally, typically as white rounded or angular grains.
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the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > native elements and alloys > [noun] > native alloys
iridosmine1827
platiniridium1848
allemontite1850
sysertskite1850
nevyanskite1854
osmiridium1854
shakudo1860
bismuth-silver1863
telluric bismuth1866
wehrlite1874
josephinite1892
1848 J. D. Dana Man. Mineral. vi. 309 A similar platin-iridium has been obtained at Ava in the East Indies.
1886 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 23 31 Aqua regia dissolves some of the grains very slowly... Other grains are hardly acted upon and are probably iridium or platin-iridium.
1935 A. H. G. Palmer & K. S. Snell Mechanics ii. 14 The International Metre..is the distance between two lines on a bar of platiniridium kept at Sèvres.
1981 Technol. & Culture 22 146 The presence of inclusions of platiniridium in objects of gold from the Royal Cemetery at Ur suggested the use of gold from the distant Pactolus River in western Anatolia.
1992 Amer. Mineralogist 77 213/2 The consequence of the redefinition of the mineral names applicable to the Ru-Os-Ir ternary system..is that..platiniridium is merely platinum iridium.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1848