Definition of "bismuth" [bis•muth]

• A white, crystalline, brittle, highly diamagnetic metallic element used in alloys to form sharp castings for objects sensitive to high temperatures and in various low-melting alloys for fire-safety devices. Atomic number 83; atomic weight 208.98; melting point 271.3°C; boiling point 1,560°C; specific gravity 9.747; valence 3, 5. See Table at element. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I don't know, exactly what alloys you mean, but bismuth is common, and is heavier than lead in atomic weight."
• "The plant, which refines lead, silver, gold and bismuth, is blamed with causing dangerously high lead levels in the blood of more than 50% of the children living in its immediate vicinity."
• "The name bismuth is derived from the old German word wismut, meaning white metal, or meadow mines."