Standard Lemma guide

rubidium

noun · 3 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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  • UK: ro͞obĭd'ēəm
  • UK: /ˌɹuːˈbɪd.i.əm/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The chemical element (symbol Rb) with an atomic number of 37. It is a soft, highly reactive alkali metal.

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 single atom of this element.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a soft silvery metallic element of the alkali metal group; burns in air and reacts violently in water; occurs in carnallite and lepidolite and pollucite

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Rb, atomic number 37

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: metallic element, metal

History

Etymology

A New Latin word derived by German chemist R. W. Bunsen in 1861, from Latin rūbidus (“red”) because its spectrum has two red lines.

Across languages

Translations

71 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Albanian: rubid — element with atomic number 37
  • Arabic: رُوبِيدِيُوم (rūbīdiyūm) — element with atomic number 37
  • Armenian: ռուբիդիում (ṙubidium) — element with atomic number 37
  • Asturian: rubidiu — element with atomic number 37
  • Basque: rubidioa — element with atomic number 37
  • Breton: rubidiom — element with atomic number 37
  • Bulgarian: руби́дий (rubídij) — element with atomic number 37
  • Catalan: rubidi — element with atomic number 37
  • Chinese Mandarin: 銣 /铷 (rú) — element with atomic number 37
  • Cornish: rubydyum — element with atomic number 37
  • Czech: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Danish: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Dutch: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Esperanto: rubidio — element with atomic number 37
  • Estonian: rubiidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Faroese: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Finnish: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • French: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • West-Frisian: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Friulian: rubidi — element with atomic number 37
  • Galician: rubidio — element with atomic number 37
  • Georgian: რუბიდიუმი (rubidiumi) — element with atomic number 37
  • German: Rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Greek: ρουβίδιο (rouvídio) — element with atomic number 37
  • Hebrew: רובידיום (rubídyum) — element with atomic number 37
  • Hindi: दीपातु (dīpātu) — element with atomic number 37
  • Hungarian: rubídium — element with atomic number 37
  • Icelandic: rúbidín — element with atomic number 37
  • Interlingua: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Irish: rúbaidiam — element with atomic number 37
  • Italian: rubidio — element with atomic number 37
  • Japanese: ルビジウム (rubijiumu) — element with atomic number 37
  • Khmer: រុយប៊ីដ្យូម (ruybiidyoum) — element with atomic number 37
  • Korean: 루비듐 (rubidyum) — element with atomic number 37
  • Latin: rūbidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Latvian: rubīdijs — element with atomic number 37
  • Lithuanian: rubidis — element with atomic number 37
  • Luxembourgish: Rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Macedonian: рубидиум (rubidium) — element with atomic number 37
  • Malay: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Maltese: rubidju — element with atomic number 37
  • Manx: rubiddjum — element with atomic number 37
  • Mongolian: рубиди (rubidi) — element with atomic number 37
  • Norwegian: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Occitan: rubidi — element with atomic number 37
  • Polish: rubid — element with atomic number 37
  • Portuguese: rubídio — element with atomic number 37
  • Romanian: rubidiu — element with atomic number 37
  • Russian: руби́дий (rubídij) — element with atomic number 37
  • Scottish Gaelic: rubaidiam — element with atomic number 37
  • Serbo-Croatian: рубидиjум — element with atomic number 37
  • Serbo-Croatian: рубидиј — element with atomic number 37
  • Serbo-Croatian: rubidijum — element with atomic number 37
  • Serbo-Croatian: rubidij — element with atomic number 37
  • Slovak: rubídium — element with atomic number 37
  • Slovene: rubídij — element with atomic number 37
  • Spanish: rubidio — element with atomic number 37
  • Swedish: rubidium — element with atomic number 37
  • Tagalog: rubidyo — element with atomic number 37
  • Tajik: рубидий (rubidiy) — element with atomic number 37
  • Tamil: அர்மிமம் (armimam) — element with atomic number 37
  • Thai: รูบิเดียม (ruu-bì-dîiam) — element with atomic number 37
  • Turkish: rubidyum — element with atomic number 37
  • Ukrainian: рубі́дій (rubídij) — element with atomic number 37
  • Uyghur: رۇبىدىي (rubidiy) — element with atomic number 37
  • Uzbek: rubidiy — element with atomic number 37
  • Uzbek: рубидий (rubidiy) — element with atomic number 37
  • Vietnamese: rubiđi — element with atomic number 37
  • Volapük: rubidin — element with atomic number 37
  • Welsh: rwbidiwm — element with atomic number 37