Chem. [Latinized form of the French name chrome, on the ordinary type of names of metals in -IUM.] A metallic element, symbol Cr, not occurring in the free state, discovered by Vauquelin in 1797. It is remarkable for the brilliant colors, red, yellow, or green, of its compounds.
1807. T. Thomson, Chem. (ed. 3), II. 251. The metal called chromium.
1812. Sir H. Davy, Chem. Philos., 463. Chromium is a white brittle metal, requiring an intense heat for its fusion.
1870. Proctor, Other Worlds, ii. 42. Besides sodium, the sun’s atmosphere contains the vapours of iron, calcium, magnesium, chromium, and other metals.
attrib. 1869. Roscoe, Elem. Chem., 187. Chromium trioxide.
