Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Germanium \Ger*ma"ni*um\, n. [NL., fr. L. Germania Germany.]
   (Chem.)
   A rare element, recently discovered (1885), in a silver ore
   (argyrodite) at Freiberg. It is a brittle, silver-white
   metal, chemically intermediate between the metals and
   nonmetals, resembles tin, and is in general identical with
   the predicted ekasilicon. Symbol Ge. Atomic weight 72.3.

Source : WordNet®

germanium
     n : a brittle gray crystalline element that is a semiconducting
         metalloid (resembling silicon) used in transistors;
         occurs in germanite and argyrodite [syn: {Ge}, {atomic
         number 32}]