electrum

From Latin electrum, from Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron).

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈlɛktɹəm/

electrum (countable and uncountable, plural electrums)

1. (obsolete) Amber.
2. An alloy of gold and silver, used by the ancients; now specifically a natural alloy with between 20 and 50 per cent silver.

   Synonym: green gold

   • 1995, Paul T. Craddock, Early Metal Mining and Production, page 111:

     Native gold almost always contains silver in amounts varying widely between 5 and 50 per cent. This natural alloy is known as electrum although in classical antiquity where the word originated it seems to have been used for an artificial alloy of the two metals.

   • 2002, Philip Ball, The Elements: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, published 2004, page 45:

     A natural alloy containing more than 20 per cent silver is called electrum, and was regarded by the ancients as a different metal from gold.

3. German silver plate.

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Electrum”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “electrum”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.

From Ancient Greek ἤλεκτρον (ḗlektron).

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /eːˈlek.trum/, [eːˈɫ̪ɛkt̪rʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /eˈlek.trum/, [eˈlɛkt̪rum]

ēlectrum n (genitive ēlectrī); second declension

1. amber
2. electrum (alloy of gold and silver)
3. (New Latin, physics) electron

Second-declension noun (neuter).

• Old French: eleutre

• “electrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “electrum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• electrum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• electrum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “electrum”, in The Perseus Project (1999) Perseus Encyclopedia‎
• “electrum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “electrum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Borrowed from French électrum.

electrum n (uncountable)

1. electrum