Join free

molybdenum

English

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

molybdenum

  • /məˈlɪbdɪnəm/

Where it comes from

From New Latin molybdaenum, from molybdaena (“any of various substances resembling lead”), from Ancient Greek μολύβδαινα (molúbdaina, “a plummet, piece of lead”), from μόλυβδος (mólubdos, “lead; graphite”), from an Anatolian word cognate with Lydian 𐤪𐤠𐤭𐤦𐤥𐤣𐤠 (mariwda, “dark”), from Proto-Indo-European *morkʷ-iyo-, from a root *morkʷ- (“dark”), cognate with English murk. Cf. Latin plumbum nigrum 'lead'. The suffix is + -um (“a chemical element”).

Attested since the last quarter of 18th century.

noun molybdenums · molybdænum

  1. countable, uncountable A chemical element (symbol Mo) with an atomic number of 42: a silvery metal, not found as a free element, used in steel alloys. The metals at preſent amount to 21 ; only 11 of which were known before the year 1730. Their names are gold, ſilver, platinum, mercury, copper, iron, tin, lead, zinc, antimony, biſmuth, arſenic, cobalt, nickel, manganeſe, tungſten, molybdenum, uranium, tellurium, titanium, chromum.
  2. countable, uncountable A single atom of this element. a quadruple bond between molybdenums

Translations

Every language

noun chemical element

Españolmolibdeno
한국어몰리브덴 mollibeuden, 수연 suyeon, 휘수연정광 hwisuyeonjeonggwang, 몰리브데넘 mollibeudeneom
日本語モリブデン moribuden
中文鉬 /钼 mù
हिन्दीसंवर्णातु samvarṇātu
Portuguêsmolibdénio, molibdênio
Françaismolybdène
DeutschMolybdän
Italianomolibdeno
Ελληνικάμολυβδένιο molyvdénio
Românămolibden
Русскиймолибде́н molibdɛ́n
Tiếng Việtmolypđen
العربيةمُولِبْدِينُوم mūlibdīnūm
עבריתמוליבדן molibdén

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"molybdenum." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/molybdenum. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

molybdenum. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/molybdenum

Chicago

"molybdenum." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/molybdenum.

BibTeX
@misc{molybdenum_2026,
  title = {molybdenum},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/molybdenum},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}