Other forms: platina
Platinum is a rare heavy precious metal, whiter than silver. A platinum ring, platinum wire, platinum jewellery.
It is far rarer than gold and much harder to melt, which is why it was worthless to peoples who could not reach its melting point. Most of it now goes into catalytic converters rather than jewellery. The Spanish name means little silver, and was dismissive.
1nounplatinumA rare heavy precious metal, whiter than silver.
“The ring was made of platinum and set with a single diamond.”
platinum is a metal.
Spanish platina means little silver. It was named dismissively when found as an impurity in gold.
Spanish
platina — little silver
English, today
platinum
From platina + -um. From Spanish platina (“little silver”) del Pinto ("of the Pinto") um. It was called "little" (or "lesser") silver because the metal was found as an impurity in gold, and del Pinto for the Pinto River in Grand Columbia where Europeans discovered it being mined by Native Americans. Doublet of platina.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA