Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Thallium

Thallium , noun

[New Latin, from Greek {not transcribed} young or green shoot or branch, twig. So called from a characteristic bright green line in its spectrum.]

(Chemistry) A rare metallic element of the aluminium group found in some minerals, as certain pyrites, and also in the lead-chamber deposit in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. It is isolated as a heavy, soft, bluish white metal, easily oxidized in moist air, but preserved by keeping under water. Symbol Tl. Atomic weight 203.7.