tīˈtānēəm, tə̇ˈt- sometimes -ˈtan- or -nyəm noun
( -s )
Etymology: New Latin, from Greek Titan + New Latin -ium
: a lustrous silvery gray light strong high-melting metallic element that is usually hard and brittle in the cold but malleable when heated and ductile when pure, that has good corrosion resistance at ordinary temperatures and is tetravalent in most of its compounds, that is found combined in ilmenite, rutile, and other minerals, is widely distributed in small amounts especially in igneous rocks, soils, and clays, and is the ninth most abundant element in the earth's crust, that is usually produced in the form of sponge from titanium tetrachloride by reduction with magnesium or sodium and consolidated by melting, and that is used chiefly in the form of ferrotitanium in making steel and in other alloys as a structural material (as in aircraft, jet engines, missiles, and chemical equipment) — symbol Ti ; see element table