noun
manganese
MANG-guh-neez
noun
1
A hard, brittle metallic element (symbol Mn, atomic number 25) used mainly to strengthen steel alloys.
"Manganese is added to steel to make it tougher and more resistant to wear."
"The battery uses manganese dioxide as part of its chemistry."
How to Use Manganese
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA metal element mostly known for making steel harder.
Common mistake
Manganese and magnesium are different elements despite the similar names and shared word history.
Easily confused with
Word Forms
manganeses plural
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_____ is added to steel to make it tougher and more resistant to wear.
Etymology
Traces back through French and Italian to Latin magnesia, from the Greek region of Magnesia, whose name also gave us "magnet" and "magnesium."