/ ruːˈθiːniəm; NAmE / noun
[ U ] ( symb Ru ) a chemical element. Ruthenium is a hard silver-white metal that breaks easily and is found in platinum ores .
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 19th cent.: modern Latin , from medieval Latin Ruthenia named after the Ruthenes (from medieval Latin Rutheni ), a Slavic people, ancestors of the Ukrainians. The metal was so named because it was discovered in ores from the Urals.