What is "antimony"

Antimony \An"ti*mo*ny\ ([a^]n"t[i^]*m[-o]*n[y^]; 112), n. [LL. antimonium, of unknown origin.] (Chem.) An elementary substance, resembling a metal in its appearance and physical properties, but in its chemical relations belonging to the class of nonmetallic substances. Atomic weight, 120. Symbol, Sb.

Note: It is of tin-white color, brittle, laminated or crystalline, fusible, and vaporizable at a rather low temperature. It is used in some metallic alloys, as type metal and bell metal, and also for medical preparations, which are in general emetics or cathartics. By ancient writers, and some moderns, the term is applied to native gray ore of antimony, or stibnite (the stibium of the Romans, and the sti`mmi of the Greeks, a sulphide of antimony, from which most of the antimony of commerce is obtained. Cervantite, senarmontite, and valentinite are native oxides of antimony.

brittle metallic element, early 15c., from Old French antimoine and directly from Medieval Latin antimonium, an alchemist's term (used 11c. by Constantinus Africanus), origin obscure, probably a Latinization of Greek stimmi "powdered antimony, black antimony" (a cosmetic used to paint the eyelids), from some Arabic word (such as al 'othmud), unless the Arabic word is from the Greek or the Latin is from Arabic; probably ultimately from Egyptian stm "powdered antimony." In French folk etymology, anti-moine "monk's bane" (from moine).\n

\nAs the name of a pure element, it is attested in English from 1788. Its chemical symbol Sb is for Stibium, the Latin name for "black antimony," which word was used also in English for "black antimony."

n. 1 A chemical element (''symbol'' Sb) with an atomic number of 51. The symbol is derived from Latin (term stibium Latin). 2 The alloy stibnite

n. a metallic element having four allotropic forms; used in a wide variety of alloys; found in stibnite [syn: Sb, atomic number 51]

Antimony is a chemical element with symbol Sb (from ) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (SbS). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient times and were used for cosmetics; metallic antimony was also known, but it was erroneously identified as lead upon its discovery. In the West, it was first isolated by Vannoccio Biringuccio and described in 1540, although in other cultures, the powder has been used to cure eye ailments and for eye shadow since time immemorial, and is often known by its Arabic name, kohl.

For some time, China has been the largest producer of antimony and its compounds, with most production coming from the Xikuangshan Mine in Hunan. The industrial methods for refining antimony are roasting and reduction with carbon or direct reduction of stibnite with iron.

The largest applications for metallic antimony is an alloy with lead and tin and the lead antimony plates in lead–acid batteries. Alloys of lead and tin with antimony have improved properties for solders, bullets and plain bearings. Antimony compounds are prominent additives for chlorine and bromine-containing fire retardants found in many commercial and domestic products. An emerging application is the use of antimony in microelectronics.