a dense silvery-white metallic element that has a high melting point. It occurs principally in gadolinite and molybdenite and is used, alloyed with tungsten or molybdenum, in high-temperature thermocouples. Symbol: Re; atomic no: 75; atomic wt: 186.207; valency: –1 or 1–7; relative density: 21.02; melting pt: 3186°C; boiling pt: 5596°C (est)
Word origin
C19: New Latin, from Rhēnus the Rhine
rhenium in American English
(ˈriniəm)
noun
a rare, metallic chemical element that is a silver-white solid or a gray-to-black powder, used in thermocouples, electrodes, etc.: symbol, Re; at. no., 75
Word origin
ModL < L Rhenus, Rhine + -ium: so named (1925) by its discoverers W. Noddack (1893-1960), I. Tacke, & O. Berg,Ger chemists
Examples of 'rhenium' in a sentence
rhenium
They're metal-fixers, with a heavy concentration of rhenium and vanadium in their -" "Have you noticed that we're stopped?