Sunday, April 15, 2012
Definitions for palladium
- Anything believed to provide protection or safety; safeguard.
- A statue of Athena, especially one on the citadel of Troy on which the safety of the city was supposed to depend.
- A rare metallic element of the platinum group, silver-white, ductile and malleable, harder and fusing more readily than platinum; used chiefly as a catalyst and in dental and other alloys. Symbol: Pd; atomic weight: 106.4; atomic number: 46; specific gravity: 12 at 20°C.
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Citations for palladium
Trial by jury is the palladium of our liberties.
So, representative institutions are the talismanic palladium of the nation, are they? The palladium of the classes that have them, I daresay.
Origin of palladium
Palladium is related to the Greek word pallas meaning "little maiden." The sense of a protective talisman comes from the name of a statue of Athena that guarded the city of Troy.