Definition of Potassium

1. Noun. A light soft silver-white metallic element of the alkali metal group; oxidizes rapidly in air and reacts violently with water; is abundant in nature in combined forms occurring in sea water and in carnallite and kainite and sylvite.

Exact synonyms: Atomic Number 19, K
Generic synonyms: Metal, Metallic Element
Substance meronyms: Carnallite, Kainite, Langbeinite, Brine, Saltwater, Seawater, Sylvine, Sylvite

Definition of Potassium

1. n. An Alkali element having atomic number 19, occurring abundantly but always combined, as in the chloride, sulphate, carbonate, or silicate, in the minerals sylvite, kainite, orthoclase, muscovite, etc. Atomic weight 39.1. Symbol K (Kalium).

Definition of Potassium

1. Noun. A soft, waxy, silvery reactive metal that is never found unbound in nature; an element (''symbol'' K) with an atomic number of 19 and atomic weight of 39.0983. The symbol is derived from the Latin ''kalium''. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Potassium

1. [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Potassium

potashed
potashes
potashing

Literary usage of Potassium

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge (1919)
"Potassium (from «pot-ashes,B wood ashes being one of the best known sources of the ... Several methods of preparing metallic potassium are now in use. ..."

2. Chemical Abstracts by American Chemical Society (1915)
"Potassium acetate compds. with pyrocatechol and phenol (Weinland) 319. Potassium amide reactions with salts of Cd, Ni and Cr in liquid NHj (Bohart) 3182. ..."

3. Annual Report by Illinois Farmers' Institute (1908)
"Now, there is one other element that we are interested in, that is the element of potassium,—the other one of those three valuable elements. ..."

4. Journal of the American Chemical Society by American Chemical Society (1880)
"Since that time, however, I have found that this salt forms one of a series between the double chloride and the double bromide of platinum and potassium, ..."

5. Phytopathology by American Phytopathological Society (1917)
"THE CONDUCTION OF Potassium CYANIDE IN PLANTS JOHN A. ELLIOTT WITH Two FIGURES IN THE TEXT During 1914 and 1915, several papers appeared on the effect on ..."

6. Standard methods of chemical analysis: A Manual of Analytical Methods and by Wilfred Welday Scott (1917)
"Separation of Lithium from Sodium and Potassium Extract the dry chlorides with amyl alcohol ... Separation of Lithium and Sodium from Potassium, Rubidium, ..."

7. Science by American Association for the Advancement of Science (1883)
"The medium consisted of 85 percent potassium-free (0.01 meq/liter) Medium 199 with Hanks ... Cultures were grown for 2 to 6 days in medium with potassium ..."

Other Resources:

Search for Potassium on Dictionary.com!Search for Potassium on Thesaurus.com!Search for Potassium on Google!Search for Potassium on Wikipedia!