An'ti-mo-ny, n.

(50), n. [L. Lat. antimonium, Fr. antimoine, It. & Sp. antimonio, most prob. corrupt. from the Ar. al-ithmēdum, or al-uthmēdum, antimony. The derivation from anti and Fr. moine, monk, as if monk's-bane, and that from Gr. ἀντί, against, and μόνος, alone, as never found alone, are both improbable.] A metal, formerly called regulus of antimony.

It is of tin-white color, brittle, laminated or crystalline, fusible, and vaporizable at a rather low temperature. It is used in some metallic alloys, as type-metal and bell-metal, and also for medical preparations, which are in general emetics or cathartics. By ancient writers, and some moderns, the term is applied to native gray ore of antimony, consisting of sulphur and antimony, the stibium of the Romans, and the στίμμι of the Greeks. It is an iron gray ore, occurring often in fibrous masses, or interlacing needle-shaped crystals.