1814 tr. J. J. Berzelius in Ann. Philos. 3 250 Tellurium. (Te).

1895 W. A. Tilden Introd. Chem. Philos. xxiv. 258 Salts, of which the sulphate, Te(SO₄)₂, and nitrate, are sufficient examples.

1922 T. M. Lowry Inorg. Chem. xxv. 356 Tellurium is separated from ores containing bismuth telluride, Bi₂Te₃, by heating with sodium carbonate.

1990 D. F. Shriver et al. Inorg. Chem. xii. 388 Te₂I and Te₂Br consists of a ribbon of edge-shared Te hexagons with halogen bridges.

2004 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Nexis) 7 Sept. 72 Students..were asked to explain how an element with a smaller atomic number, that is, Te, could have a higher relative atomic mass.

1895 G. G. Alexander Lâo-Tsze: Great Thinker 123 It is very puzzling to know when ‘tĭh’ is to be treated as a Divine attribute, and when it is to be taken as a moral virtue.

1904 W. G. Old tr. Laotze Bk. of Simple Way li. 114 Tao brings forth, and Teh nourishes.

1912 J. J. M. de Groot Relig. of Chinese iv. 95 The original li and teh, the only classical rules and ethics which keep man..in perfect harmony with the order of the universe.

1934 A. D. Waley Way & its Power 32 Hence tê means a latent power, a ‘virtue’ inherent in something.

1955 E. Herbert Taoist Notebk. 18 If allowed free play..these gifts of Tê were ample to insure the orderly progression of ‘heaven and earth’, the disciplined march of ‘the ten thousand creatures’, all in their ranks and all in step with Tao.

1963 D. C. Lau Lao Tzu 42 Te means ‘virtue’, and seems to be related to its homophone meaning ‘to get’. In its Taoist usage, te refers to the virtue of a thing (which is what it ‘gets’ from the tao). In other words, te is the nature of a thing, because it is in virtue of its te that a thing is what it is.

1975 C.-Y. Chang Tao xxxviii. 107 The real meaning of Tê is thus the attainment of the self-cultivation of non-discrimination, non-differentiation, and above all, non-willing.