Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A metallic element having two allotropic forms: a hard, extremely brittle, lustrous, bluish-white, crystalline material and a gray amorphous form. It is used in a wide variety of alloys, especially with lead in battery plates, and in the manufacture of flame-proofing compounds, paint, semiconductor devices, and ceramic products. Atomic number 51; atomic weight 121.76; melting point 630.63°C; boiling point 1,587°C; specific gravity 6.68; valence 3, 5. cross-reference: Periodic Table.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Chemical symbol, Sb (Latin stibium); atomic weight, 120. A metal of a white color and bright luster which does not readily tarnish, having a specific gravity of 6.7, crystallizing in the rhombohedral system, and in the mass ordinarily showing a crystalline structure and highly perfect cleavage.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) An elementary substance, resembling a metal in its appearance and physical properties, but in its chemical relations belonging to the class of nonmetallic substances. Atomic weight, 120. Symbol, Sb.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A chemical element (symbol Sb) with an atomic number of 51. The symbol is derived from Latin stibium.
  • noun The alloy stibnite

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a metallic element having four allotropic forms; used in a wide variety of alloys; found in stibnite

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English antimonie, from Medieval Latin antimōnium, perhaps from Arabic al-’iṯmid : al-, the + ’iṯmid, antimony (perhaps from Greek stimmi; see stibine).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin antimonium attested in the eleventh century; see also here.

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Examples

Comments

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  • see stibial

    November 5, 2007

  • Sb

    December 2, 2007

  • "'Pray, Dr Maturin,' he said on the quarterdeck, 'what is the effect of antimony?'

    "'It is a diaphoretic, an expectorant and a moderate cholegogue; but we use it chiefly as an emetic. You have heard of the everlasting antimony pill, sure?'

    "'Not I.'

    "'It is one of the most economical forms of physic known to man, since a single pill of the metal will serve a numerous household, being ingested, rejected, and so recovered. I have known one handed down for generations... the name is said to signify a monk's bane.'

    "'So I have always understood,' said Jack. 'But what I really meant was its effect on guns, was a little mixed with the powder.'

    'Alas, I am wholly ignorant of these things. But if we may go by analogy, it should cause the piece to vomit forth the ball with more than common force.'"

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 58

    February 11, 2008

  • Also; contradictory results from the same premises, as per Kant. Also, as per the witty lyrics of Alan White. Immanuel shall torture thee, philosophers.

    April 17, 2008

  • However, the torture implement of choice is actually the antinomy.

    April 17, 2008

  • Yet another word I've lived without having to pronounce. The accent is NOT on the second syllable.

    The Latin Stibium, origin of its chemcial symbol Sb, is easier to say.

    June 5, 2008

  • O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, I am about to set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. Isaiah 54:11 NRSV Bible.

    March 21, 2012

  • See also antimonial cup.

    May 4, 2012