noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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kălĭfôr'nēəm
General-American:/ˌkælɪˈfɔɹniəm/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌkælɪˈfɔːniəm/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A strongly radioactive and highly fissile transuranic chemical element (symbol Cf) with an atomic number of 98.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
a radioactive transuranic element; discovered by bombarding curium with alpha particles
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: Cf, atomic number 98
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: metallic element, metal
History
Etymology
From California + -ium. The element was first synthesized at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (then the University of California Radiation Laboratory), thus named after the university and the U.S. state of California.
Across languages
Translations
71 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
kalifornium
— chemical element
Albanian:
kalefornium
— chemical element
Arabic:
كَالِيفُورْنِيُوم
(kālīfūrniyūm)
— chemical element
Arabic:
كَلِيفُورْنِيُوم
(kalīfūrniyūm)
— chemical element
Armenian:
կալիֆոռնիում
(kalifoṙnium)
— chemical element
Asturian:
californiu
— chemical element
Basque:
kalifornioa
— chemical element
Belarusian:
каліфо́рній
(kalifórnij)
— chemical element
Breton:
kaliforniom
— chemical element
Bulgarian:
калифо́рний
(kalifórnij)
— chemical element
Catalan:
californi
— chemical element
Chinese Mandarin:
鉲 /𰽩
(kāi)
— chemical element
Cornish:
calyfornyum
— chemical element
Czech:
kalifornium
— chemical element
Danish:
californium
— chemical element
Dutch:
californium
— chemical element
Esperanto:
kaliforniumo
— chemical element
Estonian:
kalifornium
— chemical element
Faroese:
kalifornium
— chemical element
Finnish:
kalifornium
— chemical element
French:
californium
— chemical element
West-Frisian:
californium
— chemical element
Friulian:
californi
— chemical element
Galician:
californio
— chemical element
Georgian:
კალიფორნიუმი
(ḳaliporniumi)
— chemical element
German:
Californium
— chemical element
Greek:
καλιφόρνιο
(kalifórnio)
— chemical element
Hebrew:
קליפורניום
(kalifórniyum)
— chemical element
Hungarian:
kalifornium
— chemical element
Icelandic:
kalifornín
— chemical element
Irish:
calafoirniam
— chemical element
Italian:
californio
— chemical element
Japanese:
カリホルニウム
(karihoruniumu)
— chemical element
Kashubian:
kalifòrn
— chemical element
Kazakh:
калифорний
(kalifornii)
— chemical element
Korean:
칼리포르늄
(kalliporeunyum)
— chemical element
Korean:
캘리포늄
(kaelliponyum)
— chemical element
Latin:
californium
— chemical element
Latvian:
kalifornijs
— chemical element
Lithuanian:
kalifornis
— chemical element
Luxembourgish:
Kalifornium
— chemical element
Macedonian:
калифорниум
(kalifornium)
— chemical element
Malay:
kalifornium
— chemical element
Maltese:
kalifornjum
— chemical element
Manx:
californium
— chemical element
Mongolian:
калифорни
(kaliforni)
— chemical element
Norwegian:
californium
— chemical element
Persian:
کالیفرنیم
(kâliforniom)
— chemical element
Polish:
kaliforn
— chemical element
Portuguese:
califórnio
— chemical element
Romanian:
californiu
— chemical element
Russian:
калифо́рний
(kalifórnij)
— chemical element
Scottish Gaelic:
calafoirniam
— chemical element
Serbo-Croatian:
калифорниј
— chemical element
Serbo-Croatian:
калифорнијум
— chemical element
Serbo-Croatian:
kalifornij
— chemical element
Serbo-Croatian:
kalifornijum
— chemical element
Slovak:
kalifornium
— chemical element
Slovene:
kalifornij
— chemical element
Spanish:
californio
— chemical element
Swedish:
californium
— chemical element
Tajik:
[Term?] (kaliforni')
— chemical element
Tamil:
கலிபோர்ணியம்
(kalipōrṇiyam)
— chemical element
Thai:
แคลิฟอร์เนียม
(kɛɛ-lí-fɔɔ-nîiam)
— chemical element
Turkish:
kaliforniyum
— chemical element
Ukrainian:
каліфо́рній
(kalifórnij)
— chemical element
