Word
barium
Phoneticsbar·i·um
US/ˈbɛɹiəm/
UK/bˈeəɹiəm/
Definition
n. a soft, silver-white metal that is used in medicine to help doctors see your stomach and intestines on an X-ray. It is also used in some types of glass and paint.
n. a soft, silvery-white alkaline earth metal with the atomic number 56. In medical contexts, it refers to a suspension of barium sulfate used as a contrast agent for radiographic imaging of the gastrointestinal tract.
Examples
“The doctor asked me to drink the barium before the X-ray.”
“During the upper gastrointestinal series, the patient ingests a barium solution to allow the radiologist to track the movement of food through the stomach.”
“While elemental barium is highly reactive and toxic, its sulfate compound is inert and non-toxic, making it the preferred substance for diagnostic imaging procedures that require a dense, opaque contrast medium.”
Examples
simple
“The doctor asked me to drink the barium before the X-ray.”
contextual
“During the upper gastrointestinal series, the patient ingests a barium solution to allow the radiologist to track the movement of food through the stomach.”
complex
“While elemental barium is highly reactive and toxic, its sulfate compound is inert and non-toxic, making it the preferred substance for diagnostic imaging procedures that require a dense, opaque contrast medium.”
Etymology
Coined by British chemist Humphry Davy in 1808, from baryta + -ium.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.