germanium

n. Brittle greyish-white semi-metallic element. [related to *german]

n. A rare element, recently discovered (1885), in a silver ore (argyrodite) at Freiberg. It is a brittle, silver-white metal, chemically intermediate between the metals and nonmetals, resembles tin, and is in general identical with the predicted ekasilicon. Symbol Ge. Atomic weight 72.3.