Word
helium
Phoneticshe·li·um
US/ˈhiɫiəm/
UK/hˈiːliəm/
Definition
n. a very light gas that has no color or smell and does not burn.
n. the second-lightest chemical element, a colorless, odorless, and inert noble gas with atomic number 2.
Examples
“The party balloons are filled with helium so they float.”
“Scientists use liquid helium to cool the superconducting magnets in MRI machines to extremely low temperatures.”
“As a byproduct of the fusion process within stars, helium represents a significant portion of cosmic matter, though it remains relatively scarce in the Earth's atmosphere due to its low density.”
Examples
simple
“The party balloons are filled with helium so they float.”
contextual
“Scientists use liquid helium to cool the superconducting magnets in MRI machines to extremely low temperatures.”
complex
“As a byproduct of the fusion process within stars, helium represents a significant portion of cosmic matter, though it remains relatively scarce in the Earth's atmosphere due to its low density.”
Usage
Uncountable when referring to the element in general; countable only when referring to specific isotopes or samples in a laboratory context.
Real-World Examples
“This study was done at temperatures so low that even helium turns liquid.” “The star keeps burning its fuel and shining on until most of the helium in its core has fused into iron.” Etymology
From New Latin helium, from Ancient Greek ἥλιος (hḗlios, “sun”) (because its presence was first theorised in the Sun's atmosphere) with the suffix + -ium. Probably coined by Norman Lockyer. This suffix is unusual, because it is usually used only for metallic elements. It is likely that Lockyer, being an astronomer, was unaware of the usual chemical conventions.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/helium