- noun a metallic element. It is used to make alloys.
- A shining steel-gray metallic element whose atomic number is 27. It is hard, ductile, reactive, ferromagnetic, and has about 20 known isotopes, of which one is stable. Its applications in electronics include its use in certain cermets, for plating, and in semiconductors. Its chemical symbol is Co.
- chemical symbolCo
- A trace element necessary for health which is a constituent of vitamin B12 (cobalamin). Found in meat, eggs, dairy products and yeast extract.
- prefix working or acting together
Information & Library Science
- abbreviation in Internet addresses, the top-level domain for Colombia
- noun an officer commanding a battalion or equivalent-sized grouping
Origin & History of “cobalt”
German kobold means ‘goblin’: and in former times it was believed by German silver miners that impurities in the ore they were extracting, which lessened the value of the silver and even made them ill, were put there by these mischievous creatures. In fact these impurities were a silver-white metallic element, which was named kobalt after a middle high German variant of kobold (the miners’ sickness was probably caused by the arsenic with which it occurred).