manganese

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the chemical element with atomic number 25, a hard gray metal used especially to strengthen steel and in batteries

   Adding manganese makes the steel harder and more resistant to wear.

Borrowed from French manganese, from Italian manganese, an alteration of Medieval Latin magnesia. Magnesia originally named substances associated with Magnesia in the ancient Greek world; confusion among similar dark minerals eventually produced the distinct name manganese.

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