sodium

/ˈsoʊdiəm/

/ˈsʌʊdiəm/

Sodium is a chemical element, a soft silver-colored metal. When it's combined with chlorine, sodium turns into table salt. If you have high blood pressure, you doctor might tell you to cut back on sodium in your diet.

The pure form of sodium is bright and silvery, and soft enough that you can cut it with a knife. Combined with other elements, sodium is present in many common things, including glass, paper, fertilizer, baking soda, and the salt in the shaker on your table. The first scientist to isolate sodium, Humphry Davy, did it using caustic soda, or sodium hydroxide, and coined the new element's name from soda.

Definitions of sodium

1. noun

   a silvery soft waxy metallic element of the alkali metal group; occurs abundantly in natural compounds (especially in salt water); burns with a yellow flame and reacts violently in water; occurs in sea water and in the mineral halite (rock salt)
   synonyms: Na, atomic number 11

   type of:

   metal, metallic element

   any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.