Our online medical glossary of medical terms and definitions includes definitions for terms related to treatment, and general medicine
TANTALUM
A rarenonmetallicelement found in determined minerals, as tantalite, samarskite, and fergusonite, and isolated as a dark powder which becomes steel-gray by burnishing. Symbol Ta. Atomic weight 182.0. Formerly called also tantalium.
Origin: NL. So named on account of the perplexity and difficulty encounterd by its discoverer (Ekeberg) in isolating it. See Tantalus.
Source: Websters Vocabulary