germanium
noun
ger·ma·ni·um (ˌ)jər-ˈmā-nē-əm 
: a grayish-white hard brittle metalloid element that resembles silicon and is used especially in optical and semiconductor materials and as a catalyst see Chemical Elements Table
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web And many metals have production losses of 95 percent or higher: arsenic, gallium, germanium, hafnium, scandium, selenium, and tellurium. 
John Timmer, Ars Technica, 20 May 2022 Scientists at the time, and to this day, aren’t sure why there wasn’t enough germanium 71. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 11 July 2022 Most of the worries about solar panel production have focused on the elements that go into the panels themselves, like gallium, cadmium, germanium, indium, selenium, and tellurium. Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2022 The products can contain volcanic ash, titanium, tourmaline, zeolite, germanium, and monazite sand and may also contain naturally occurring radioactive elements, including uranium and thorium. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Dec. 2021 Using materials like silicon and germanium, Dr. Shockley and two other scientists had shown how to build the tiny transistors that would one day be used to store and move information in the form of an electrical signal. New York Times, 20 Nov. 2021 For a time, scientists thought that would be germanium—an element that’s a superior semiconductor to silicon. Gregory Barber, Wired, 21 July 2021 In the mid-1950s, a revolutionary solid-state transistor was developed using silicon instead of germanium. Jim Witham, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2021 After all, germanium is a better semiconductor than silicon, but silicon still rules the roost. Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 7 Dec. 2020 See More
John Timmer, Ars Technica, 20 May 2022 Scientists at the time, and to this day, aren’t sure why there wasn’t enough germanium 71. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 11 July 2022 Most of the worries about solar panel production have focused on the elements that go into the panels themselves, like gallium, cadmium, germanium, indium, selenium, and tellurium. Doug Johnson, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2022 The products can contain volcanic ash, titanium, tourmaline, zeolite, germanium, and monazite sand and may also contain naturally occurring radioactive elements, including uranium and thorium. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 17 Dec. 2021 Using materials like silicon and germanium, Dr. Shockley and two other scientists had shown how to build the tiny transistors that would one day be used to store and move information in the form of an electrical signal. New York Times, 20 Nov. 2021 For a time, scientists thought that would be germanium—an element that’s a superior semiconductor to silicon. Gregory Barber, Wired, 21 July 2021 In the mid-1950s, a revolutionary solid-state transistor was developed using silicon instead of germanium. Jim Witham, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2021 After all, germanium is a better semiconductor than silicon, but silicon still rules the roost. Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 7 Dec. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
New Latin, from Medieval Latin Germania Germany
First Known Use
1886, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
germanium
noun
ger·ma·ni·um jər-ˈmā-nē-əm
: a white hard brittle element used as a semiconductor
Medical Definition
germanium
noun
ger·ma·ni·um (ˌ)jər-ˈmā-nē-əm
: a grayish white hard brittle metalloid element that resembles silicon and is used as a semiconductor —symbol Ge see Chemical Elements Table