a silvery-white metallic transuranic element artificially produced from plutonium. Symbol: Cm; atomic no: 96; half-life of most stable isotope, 247Cm: 1.6 x 107 years; valency: 3 and 4; relative density: 13.51 (calculated); melting pt: 1345±400°C
Word origin
C20: New Latin, named after Pierre and Marie Curie
curium in American English
(ˈkjuriəm; ˈkjʊriəm)
US
noun
an extremely radioactive, metallic chemical element, one of the actinides, generally produced by neutron bombardment of plutonium or americium: symbol, Cm; at. no., 96
Word origin
ModL, after Pierre & Marie Curie + -ium: so named (1946) by Seaborg, its discoverer, by analogy with the corresponding rare earth gadolinium