aluminium

See also: Aluminium and alumínium

English

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: silicon (Si)

Alternative forms

• aluminum (US, Canada, Philippines) (see § Usage notes below)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂elut-

Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥

Proto-Italic *-men

Latin -men

Latin alūmen

Proto-Indo-European *-om

Proto-Italic *-om

Latin -umder.

English -ium

English aluminium

First used in 1812 as an alternative form of aluminum which was coined in the same year. From Latin alūmen +‎ -ium.

• For information on the origins of the two spellings, see the Wikipedia article.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) enPR: ăl"yo͝omĭn'ēəm, ăl"yo͝omĭn'yəm, IPA^(key): /ˌæl.(j)ʊˈmɪn.i.əm/, /ˌæl.(j)ʊˈmɪn.jəm/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• (US) enPR: ăl"(y)o͞omĭn'ēəm, ăl"(y)o͞omĭn'yəm, IPA^(key): /ˌæl.(j)uˈmɪn.i.əm/, /ˌæl.(j)uˈmɪn.jəm/ (or like aluminum)

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• (Canada) enPR: əlo͞om'ĭnəm, IPA^(key): /əˈluːmɪnəm/ (corresponding to aluminum)
• (New Zealand) enPR: ăl"(y)əmĭn'yəm, IPA^(key): /ˌɛl.(j)ɘˈmɘn.jɘm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ə.l(j)ʊˈmɪn.ɪ.jəm/

Noun

aluminium (countable and uncountable, plural aluminiums)

2. A light, silvery metal extracted from bauxite, and a chemical element (symbol Al) with an atomic number of 13.
   • 2025 February 5, Annabel Crabb, “Donald Trump didn't invent brawling about tariffs. Australia gave it a red hot go”, in ABC News‎^[2], archived from the original on 3 April 2025:

     There are plenty of reasons, Australians may reason, why our nation might be exempted from the threatened next round of Trumpian tariffs, on stuff like aluminium and pharmaceuticals.

3. (countable) A single atom of this element.
4. (slang) Aircraft or other machinery made partially or wholly of aluminium.

Usage notes

• The spelling aluminium is used internationally in chemistry as recommended by IUPAC. In everyday use aluminium is generally used in Commonwealth countries, while aluminum is used in US English.

Synonyms

• alumium (obsolete)
• E173 when used as a food colouring

Derived terms

• aluminic
• aluminiferous
• aluminio-, alumino-
• aluminise, aluminize
• aluminium-26
• aluminium-27
• aluminium arsenide, aluminum arsenide
• aluminium borate, aluminum borate
• aluminium boron oxide, aluminum boron oxide
• aluminium brass, aluminum brass
• aluminium bromide, aluminum bromide
• aluminium bronze, aluminum bronze
• aluminium caesium tetrachloride
• aluminium carbide, aluminum carbide
• aluminium chloride, aluminum chloride
• aluminium chloride fluoride, aluminum chloride fluoride
• aluminium chloride oxide, aluminum chloride oxide
• aluminium chlorohydrate, aluminum chlorohydrate
• aluminium difluoride, aluminum difluoride
• aluminium difluoride oxide, aluminum difluoride oxide
• aluminium family
• aluminium fluoride, aluminum fluoride
• aluminium foil, aluminum foil
• aluminium gallium arsenide, aluminum gallium arsenide
• aluminium-gallium-indium phosphide, aluminum-gallium-indium phosphide
• aluminium gallium nitride, aluminum gallium nitride
• aluminium hydride, aluminum hydride
• aluminium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide
• aluminium iodide, aluminum iodide
• aluminium isopropoxide, aluminum isopropoxide
• aluminium monobromide, aluminum monobromide
• aluminium monochloride, aluminum monochloride
• aluminium monofluoride, aluminum monofluoride
• aluminium monofluoride monoxide
• aluminium monoiodide, aluminum monoiodide
• aluminium monophosphide, aluminum monophosphide
• aluminium monostearate, aluminum monostearate
• aluminium monotelluride, aluminum monotelluride
• aluminium monoxide, aluminum monoxide
• aluminium nitrate, aluminum nitrate
• aluminium nitride, aluminum nitride
• aluminium oxide, aluminum oxide
• aluminium oxide hydroxide, aluminum oxide hydroxide
• aluminium oxynitride, aluminum oxynitride
• aluminium paper
• aluminium phosphide, aluminum phosphide
• aluminium rubidium tetrachloride, aluminum rubidium tetrachloride
• aluminium shower
• aluminium silicate, aluminum silicate
• aluminium silicon monoxide, aluminum silicon monoxide
• aluminium suboxide, aluminum suboxide
• aluminium sulphate, aluminum sulfate
• aluminium sulphate hexadecahydrate, aluminum sulfate hexadecahydrate
• aluminium sulphide, aluminum sulfide
• aluminium tribromide, aluminum tribromide
• aluminium trichloride, aluminum trichloride
• aluminium trifluoride, aluminum trifluoride
• aluminium triiodide, aluminum triiodide
• alundum
• beryllium aluminium oxide, beryllium aluminum oxide
• dialuminium, dialuminum
• diethylaluminium chloride, diethylaluminum chloride
• dihydroxyaluminium
• diisobutylaluminium hydride, diisobutylaluminum hydride
• duralumin
• eka-aluminium, ekaaluminum
• ferro-aluminium, ferro-aluminum
• lithium aluminium hydride, lithium aluminum hydride
• magnalium
• magnesium aluminium oxide, magnesium aluminum oxide
• magnesium aluminium silicate, magnesium aluminum silicate
• monoaluminium, monoaluminum
• potassium aluminium chloride, potassium aluminum chloride
• potassium aluminium silicate
• potassium aluminium sulfate
• potassium aluminium sulphate, potassium aluminum sulfate
• rubidium aluminium sulphate-dodecahydrate, rubidium aluminum sulfate-dodecahydrate
• sodium aluminium fluoride, sodium aluminum fluoride
• sodium aluminium phosphate
• triethylaluminium, triethylaluminum
• trimethylaluminium, trimethyl aluminium
• yttrium aluminium garnet, yttrium aluminum garnet

Related terms

• algraphy
• alum
• alumane
• alumina
• aluminate
• aluminian
• aluminide
• aluminothermy

Descendants

• → Malay: aluminium
• → Welsh: alwminiwm

Translations

silvery metal

• Afrikaans: aluminium (af)
• Albanian: alumin (sq) ?
• Arabic: أَلُومِنْيُوم m (ʔalūminyūm)
• Armenian: ալյումին (hy) (alyumin)
• Assamese: এলুমিনিয়াম (eluminiam)
• Asturian: aluminiu (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: alüminium
• Basque: aluminioa
• Belarusian: алюмі́ній m (aljumínij), алюмін m (alumin), гліняк m (hliniak)
• Bengali: অ্যালুমিনিয়াম (bn) (êluminiẏam)
• Breton: aluminiom m
• Bulgarian: алуми́ний (bg) m (alumínij)
• Burmese: အလူမီနီယမ် (a.luminiyam)
• Catalan: alumini (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 鋁 / 铝 (leoi⁵)

  Hakka: 鋁 / 铝 (lî), 阿路米 (à-lu-mí, â-lu-mí) (Taiwan)

  Hokkien: 鋁 / 铝 (lū, lī), a-lú-mih (Taiwan), 輕銀 / 轻银 (zh-min-nan) (khin-gîn, khin-gûn, kheng-gûn), 輕銀仔 / 轻银仔 (khin-gîn-á, kheng-gîn-á), 礬素 / 矾素 (hoân-sò͘)

  Mandarin: 鋁 / 铝 (zh) (lǚ), 鋼種 / 钢种 (zh) (gāngzhǒng) (colloquial, now rare), 鋼精 / 钢精 (zh) (gāngjīng) (colloquial, now rare)

  Wu: 鋁 / 铝 (⁶liu)

• Chuvash: алюмини (aljumini)
• Cornish: aluminiom m
• Corsican: alluminiu (co) m
• Czech: hliník (cs) m
• Danish: aluminium (da) n
• Dutch: aluminium (nl) n
• Dzongkha: ཀ་ལ (ka la)
• Erzya: люм (ľum)
• Esperanto: aluminio (eo)
• Estonian: alumiinium (et)
• Farefare: waasrɛ
• Faroese: aluminium n
• Finnish: alumiini (fi)
• French: aluminium (fr) m
• Frisian:

  Saterland Frisian: aluminium ?

  West Frisian: aluminium ?

• Friulian: alumini ?
• Galician: aluminio (gl) m
• Georgian: ალუმინი (alumini)
• German: Aluminium (de) n

  Central Franconian: Allu ?

• Greek: αλουμίνιο (el) n (aloumínio)
• Haitian Creole: aliminyòm
• Hawaiian: ʻAluminuma
• Hebrew: אלומיניום (he) (alumínyum), חמרן (he) m (ḥamran, ḥomran)
• Hindi: एल्युमिनियम ? (elyuminiyam), स्फटयातु ? (sphaṭyātu)
• Hmong:

  White Hmong: please add this translation if you can

• Hungarian: alumínium (hu)
• Icelandic: ál (is) n
• Ido: aluminio (io)
• Indonesian: aluminium (id)
• Interlingua: aluminium
• Irish: alúmanam (ga) m
• Italian: alluminio (it) m
• Japanese: アルミニウム (ja) (aruminiumu), 軽銀 (ja) (けいぎん, keigin), 礬素 (banso)
• Javanese: alumunium
• Kannada: ಅಲ್ಯೂಮಿನಿಯಮ್ (alyūminiyam)
• Kapampangan: aluminiu
• Kashubian: aluminijô m
• Kazakh: алюминий (kk) (alüminii)
• Khmer: អាលុយមីញ៉ូម (ʼaaluymiiñoum), ដេរ៉ា (deeraa), ញ៉ូម (ñoum)
• Korean: 알루미늄 (ko) (alluminyum), 경은(輕銀) (gyeong'eun), 반소(礬素) (ko) (banso)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: bafûn (ku)

• Kyrgyz: алюминий (ky) (alyuminiy)
• Lao: ອາລູມິນຽມ (ʼā lū mi nīam)
• Latin: aluminium (la) n
• Latvian: alumīnijs m
• Limburgish: alleminium (li) n
• Lingala: aluminyu class 9a/10a
• Lithuanian: aliuminis (lt) ?
• Low German: aluminium ?
• Luxembourgish: Aluminium ?
• Macedonian: алуминиум (mk) m (aluminium)
• Malay: aluminium (ms)
• Malayalam: അലുമിനിയം (ml) (aluminiyaṁ)
• Maltese: aluminju m
• Manx: ollymin m
• Māori: konumohe
• Marathi: ऍल्युमिनियम ? (ĕlyuminiyam)
• Melanau:

  Central Melanau: maniyem

• Mongolian: хөнгөн цагаан (xöngön cagaan)
• Moore: waasdo
• Navajo: béésh ászólí
• Nepali: आल्मुनियम (ālmuniyam)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: aluminium (no) m or n

  Nynorsk: aluminium (nn) m or n

• Occitan: alumini (oc) m
• Pashto: المونيم (ps) m (almónyám)
• Persian: آلومینیم (fa) (âluminiyom)
• Plautdietsch: Alumienium m
• Polish: glin (pl) m, aluminium (pl) m
• Portuguese: alumínio (pt) m
• Quechua: ch'aqu q'illay
• Romanian: aluminiu (ro) n
• Russian: алюми́ний (ru) m (aljumínij)
• Sanskrit: स्फटयातु ? (sphaṭayātu)
• Scottish Gaelic: alùmanam m, almain (gd) m, alman (gd) m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: алу̀мӣнијум m, алу̀мӣниј m

  Latin: alùmīnijum m, alùmīnij (sh) m

• Sicilian: alluminiu (scn)
• Slovak: hliník (sk) m
• Slovene: aluminij (sl)
• Spanish: aluminio (es) m
• Swahili: alumini (sw), aluminiamu
• Swedish: aluminium (sv) n
• Tagalog: aluminyo (tl)
• Tajik: алюминий (tg) (alyuminiy)
• Tamil: அலூமீனியம் (alūmīṉiyam)
• Telugu: అల్యూమినియం (te) (alyūminiyaṁ)
• Thai: อะลูมิเนียม (th) (à-luu-mí-niiam), อะลูมินัม (à-luu-mí-nam)
• Tibetan: ཧ་ཡང་ (ha yang)
• Turkish: alüminyum (tr)
• Turkmen: alýumin
• Ukrainian: алюмі́ній (uk) m (aljumínij)
• Urdu: ایلومینیم m (elyuminiyam)
• Uyghur: ئاليۇمىن (alyumin)
• Uzbek: alyuminiy (uz)

  Cyrillic: алюминий (uz) (alyuminiy)

• Veps: alüminii
• Vietnamese: nhôm (vi)
• Volapük: lalumin (vo)
• Welsh: alwminiwm (cy) m
• Yiddish: אַלומיניום m (aluminyum)
• Yoruba: alumíníọ̀, bẹ̀lẹ̀jẹ́
• Zhuang: lij

See also

• andalusite
• bauxite
• Birmabright
• chiolite
• cobalt blue
• corundum
• cryolite
• emery
• mullite
• romanium
• ruby
• sapphire

Afrikaans

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: silikon (Si)

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

aluminium (uncountable)

1. aluminium

Danish

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: silicium (Si)

Etymology

Created in 1812, from Latin alūmen +‎ -ium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aluminjɔm/, [a.luˈmiˀ.njɔm]
• Rhymes: -ɔm

Noun

aluminium n (singular definite aluminiummet, not used in plural form)

1. aluminium

Declension

Declension of aluminium

neuter gender	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	aluminium	aluminiummet
genitive	aluminiums	aluminiummets

Synonyms

• E173 (when used as a food colouring)

Derived terms

Terms derived from “aluminium”

• aluminiumoxid
• aluminiumsdåse
• aluminiumsfolie
• aluminiumsfælg
• aluminiumsplade
• aluminiumsværk

References

• “aluminium” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: silicium (Si)

Etymology

Borrowed from English aluminium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌaː.lyˈmi.ni.ʏm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: alu‧mi‧ni‧um

Noun

aluminium n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. aluminium

Derived terms

• aluminiumfolie

Descendants

• → Caribbean Javanese: alminiyum
• → Indonesian: aluminium
• → Sranan Tongo: aluminium

French

aluminium

Etymology

Borrowed from English aluminium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ly.mi.njɔm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

aluminium m (plural aluminiums)

1. aluminium (element)

Descendants

• Lingala: aluminyu
• → Portuguese: alumínio
• → Vietnamese: nhôm

Further reading

• “aluminium”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Indonesian

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: silikon (Si)

Etymology

From Dutch aluminium, from English aluminium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [alumiˈniʊm]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: alu‧mi‧ni‧um

Noun

aluminium

1. aluminium (a silvery metal)

Alternative forms

• aloeminioem (superseded)
• alumunium

Derived terms

• aluminium asetat
• aluminium diasetat
• aluminium dilinoleat
• aluminium dimerat
• aluminium dimiristat
• aluminium disetil fosfat
• aluminium distearat
• aluminium format
• aluminium fosfat
• aluminium hidroksida
• aluminium klorhidroksida
• aluminium klorida
• aluminium klorohidrat
• aluminium laktat
• aluminium palmitat
• aluminium silikat
• aluminium sitrat
• aluminium stearat
• aluminium sulfat

Further reading

• “aluminium”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Latin

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: silicium (Si)

Etymology

Derived from alūmen, alūminis (“alum”) +‎ -ium (chemical element suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [a.ɫuːˈmɪ.ni.ũː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [a.luˈmiː.ni.um]

Noun

alūminium n (genitive alūminiī); second declension

1. (New Latin) aluminium

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	alūminium	alūminia
genitive	alūminiī	alūminiōrum
dative	alūminiō	alūminiīs
accusative	alūminium	alūminia
ablative	alūminiō	alūminiīs
vocative	alūminium	alūminia

Malay

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: silikon (Si)

Etymology

Borrowed from English aluminium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aluminiom/
• Rhymes: -iom, -jom, -om

Noun

aluminium (Jawi spelling الومينيوم, plural aluminium-aluminium or aluminium²)

1. aluminium (A silvery metal)

Derived terms

• aluminium klorida (“aluminium chloride”)
• aluminium oksida (“ aluminium oxide”)
• aluminium silikat (“aluminium silicate”)
• aluminium sulfat (“aluminium sulphate”)
• aluminium teranod (“anodized aluminium”)
• aluminium triklorida (“aluminium trichloride”)

Further reading

• "aluminium" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin alumen.

Noun

aluminium m or n (definite singular aluminiumen or aluminiumet) (uncountable)

1. aluminium (UK), or aluminum (US) (chemical element and metal, symbol Al)

Derived terms

• aluminiumsfolie

References

• “aluminium” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin alumen.

Noun

aluminium m or n (definite singular aluminiumen or aluminiumet) (uncountable)

1. aluminium (UK), or aluminum (US) (chemical element and metal, symbol Al)

Derived terms

• aluminiumsfolie

References

• “aluminium” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English aluminium, from Latin alumen. First attested in 1818.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.luˈmi.ɲum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɲum
• Syllabification: a‧lu‧mi‧nium

Noun

aluminium n (indeclinable)

1. aluminium

   Synonym: glin

Derived terms

adjective

• aluminiowy

nouns

• aluminografia
• aluminotermia

verb

• aluminiować

Collocations

Collocations

• powlekany aluminium ― coated in aluminum
• pokryty aluminium ― covered with aluminum
• polerowane aluminium ― polished aluminum
• szczotkowane aluminium ― brushed aluminum
• anodowane aluminium ― anodized aluminum
• drugoligowe aluminium ― second-tier aluminum
• matowe aluminium ― matt aluminum
• lekkie aluminium ― lightweight aluminum
• cenne aluminium ― valuable aluminum
• przetop aluminium ― aluminum smelting
• huta aluminium ― aluminum smelter
• odlewnia aluminium ― aluminum foundry
• stop aluminium ― aluminum alloy
• kilogram aluminium ― kilogram of aluminum
• spawanie aluminium ― aluminum welding
• tlenek aluminium ― aluminum oxide
• imitacja aluminium ― aluminum imitation
• recykling aluminium ― aluminum recycling
• walcownia aluminium ― aluminum rolling mill
• tona aluminium ― ton of aluminum
• przetwórstwo aluminium ― processing of aluminum
• odzysk aluminium ― aluminum recovery
• produkcja aluminium ― aluminum production
• hutnictwo aluminium ― aluminum metallurgy
• zastosowanie aluminium ― use of aluminum
• producent aluminium ― aluminum producer
• złom aluminium ― aluminum scrap
• warstwa aluminium ― aluminum layer
• wytwarzanie aluminium ― production of aluminum
• proszek aluminium ― aluminum powder
• fabryka aluminium ― aluminum factory
• złodziej aluminium ― aluminum thief
• cena aluminium ― aluminum price
• skład aluminium ― aluminum composition
• rynek aluminium ― aluminum market
• kraść aluminium ― to steal aluminum
• produkować aluminium ― to produce aluminum
• tworzyć aluminium ― to create aluminum
• aluminium kosztuje ileś ― aluminum costs some amount

Further reading

• aluminium in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• aluminium in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861), “aluminium”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “aluminjum”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 28

Romanian

Noun

aluminium n (uncountable)

1. alternative form of aluminiu

Swedish

Chemical element
Al
Previous: magnesium (Mg)
Next: kisel (Si)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /alɵˈmiːnɪɵm/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

aluminium n (uncountable)

1. aluminium, aluminum

Declension

Declension of aluminium

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	aluminium	aluminiums
	definite	aluminiumet	aluminiumets
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Declension of aluminium

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	aluminium	aluminiums
	definite	aluminiet	aluminiets
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

References

• “aluminium”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “aluminium”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “aluminium”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• Svensk MeSH