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rare earth

noun

Etymology

From rare + earth. First use appears c. 1841 in the publications of Henry Minchin Noad. See cite below.

  1. inherited from *h₁er-✻
  2. inherited from *erþō✻
  3. inherited from *erþu✻
  4. inherited from eorþe
  5. inherited from erthe
  6. compounded as rare earth — “rare + earth”

Definitions

  1. Any of the naturally occurring oxides of the lanthanide metals

    Any of the naturally occurring oxides of the lanthanide metals; they are widely distributed in relatively small concentrations and are used in glassmaking, ceramic glazes etc.

    • Meronyms: rare earth element, rare earth metal
    • The metallic base of yttria, a very rare earth, discovered in a mineral called godolinite.

  2. A rare earth element.

    • Near-synonym: lanthanide

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for rare earth. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA