Palladium

Palladium
   , PALLADIAN
   Pallas Athene, called Pallas Minerva in Latin, perhaps is so named from the spear she brandished. In classical legend, the wooden statue of Pallas, in the citadel of Troy, which was said to have fallen from heaven, preserved the safety of the city. From this notion has come the general meaning of palladium—a safeguard on which anyone or anything can depend. The Trojans knew this legend well. After Odysseus and Diomedes stole the statue, Troy fell.
   When William Hyde Wollaston, an English physicist, discovered, in 1803, a rare metallic element associated with platinum and gold, he named it palladium for the Grecian goddess and also after the newly discovered asteroid Pallas.
   The similar-sounding word Palladian is derived from the architectural style, based on the classical, introduced by Andrea Palladio (1518-1580). This great architect was given the name Andrea di Pietro Vicenza at birth but was renamed by the scholarly poet Trissimo. Outstanding works of his include the Villa, Rotunda at Vicenza and S. Georgio Maggiore in Venice. Palladio was honored with the appellation "the Raphael of architects." His name is still current in Palladian window, an architectural unit that he used on grand buildings. It consists of a central window with a round-arch top flanked by two square-topped windows. The Palladium in London derived its name from the mistaken notion that the ancient Palladium, like the great Colosseum, was a place for circuses and fun.

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

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  • Palladium — (pronounced pəˈleɪdiəm) is a rare and lustrous silvery white metal that was discovered in 1803 by William Hyde Wollaston, who named it palladium after the asteroid Pallas, which in turn, was named after the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena,… …   Wikipedia

  • PALLADIUM — Palladis simulacrum, quod Romae in aede Vestae fuit, cuius meminit Herodian. l. 1. c. 14. Id fuit e ligno compactum, movens oculos, atque hastam, quam manu gestabat, ut seribit Servius. Nam cum apud Troiam in honorem Palladis arx, et in eius… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • palladium — 1. (pal la di om ; on a prononcé aussi pal la di on) s. m. 1°   Statue de Pallas, qui passait pour le gage de la conservation de Troie. •   Le palladium, quoique tombé du ciel, n était qu un gage sacré de la protection de Pallas ; c était elle qu …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • Palladium — Palladium, ein hölzernes Bild der Pallas Athene von großer Berühmtheit. Vom Himmel herab war es gefallen, glückbringend, schirmend, schützend; daher rühmten sich mehrere Städte des Alterthums eines solchen, soz. B. Athen, Rom, Troja u. A.… …   Damen Conversations Lexikon

  • Palladium [1] — Palladium Pd, Element aus der Gruppe der Platinmetalle, findet sich als steter. Begleiter der Platinerze (zu 5–10%, auch im Goldsande Brasiliens). Weißgrau, mit starkem Metallglanz, an der Luft unveränderlich, löslich in Salz , Salpeter und… …   Lexikon der gesamten Technik

  • Palladium — Pal*la di*um (p[a^]l*l[=a] d[i^]*[u^]m), n. [L., fr. Gr. Palla dion, fr. Palla s, Palla dos, Pallas.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Gr. Antiq.) Any statue of the goddess Pallas; esp., the famous statue on the preservation of which depended the safety of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • palladium — (n.) c.1600, safeguard, originally (late 14c.) sacred image of PALLAS (Cf. Pallas) Athene, from L. palladium, from Gk. Palladion, neut. of Palladios of Pallas. It stood in the citadel of Troy and the safety of the city was believed to depend on… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Palladium — (Nasielsk,Польша) Категория отеля: Адрес: ul. Polskiej Organizacji Wojskowej 24 A, 05 190 …   Каталог отелей

  • Palladium — Pal*la di*um, n. [NL.] (Chem.) A rare metallic element of the light platinum group, found native, and also alloyed with platinum and gold. It is a silver white metal resembling platinum, and like it permanent and untarnished in the air, but is… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Palladium — Palladium, chemisches Zeichen Pd, Atomgewicht 53 (H = 1), 662.5 (O = 100), ein in den Platinerzen vorkommendes seltenes Metall, wurde zuerst von Förster 1803 als ein neues Metall unter diesem Namen verkäuflich ausgeboten, von Wollaston aber näher …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Palládium [1] — Palládium Pd, eins der Platinmetalle, das zu etwa 2 Proz. im Platinerz, zu 5–10 Proz. in einigen Sorten brasilischen Goldes, fast rein im brasilischen Platinsand und außerdem in selenhaltigen Erzen von Tilkerode und spurenweise in Blei und… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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