tə̇]ˈlu̇rēəm, te], ]lˈyu̇-\ noun
( -s )
Etymology: New Latin, from tellur- + -ium
1. : a semimetallic element that is related to selenium and sulfur and resembles them chemically, that is known either in a silvery white brittle crystalline form having a metallic luster but conducting electricity poorly or in a dark amorphous form of variable properties, that burns in air with a greenish blue flame to yield the crystalline dioxide, that is found native but more often combined especially with metals in tellurides (as sylvanite) associated with sulfides and selenides, that is obtained usually as a by-product in the electrolytic refining of copper and also as a fission product of uranium, and that is used chiefly in the rubber industry as a secondary vulcanizing agent and in metallurgy in iron castings and in copper, lead, and other alloys — symbol Te ; see element table
2. : a place for the care and exhibition of selected flora and fauna (as in a school for instruction purposes)