u|ra|ni|um

u|ra|ni|um «yu RAY nee uhm», noun.

a white, radioactive metallic chemical element that weighs more than any other element in nature. Uranium occurs naturally in combination in pitchblende, carnotite, and certain other minerals. Naturally occurring uranium contains three isotopes of mass numbers 234, 235, and 238. Certain isotopes of uranium can sustain efficient chain reaction and are for this reason used as sources of atomic energy and in the atomic bomb.

╂[< New Latin uranium < Uranus, the planet + -ium, a suffix meaning “element”]