Advertisement

tungsten (n.)

rare metallic element, 1796, from Swedish tungsten "calcium tungstate," coined 1780 by its discoverer, Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) from tung "heavy" + sten "stone" (see stone (n.)). The word was used earlier as the name for calcium tungstate (1770). Atomic symbol W is from Latin wolframium, from German Wolfram "iron tungstate" (see wolfram).

Others are reading

Advertisement
Definitions of tungsten from WordNet

tungsten (n.)
a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite;
Synonyms: wolfram / w / atomic number "
From wordnet.princeton.edu