dysprosium

noun

dys·​pro·​si·​um dis-ˈprō-zē-əm 

-zh(ē-)əm

: an element of the rare-earth group that forms highly magnetic compounds see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of dysprosium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Phoenix Tailings focuses on extracting neodymium, neodymium-praseodymium alloy, dysprosium, and ferro dysprosium alloy, which are rare earth metals used in permanent magnets for EVs, wind turbines, jet engines and other applications. —IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2024

The aquatic plant contains the elements platinum and rhodium, along with rare-earth elements like neodymium, lanthanum, yttrium and dysprosium. —Devika Rao, theweek, 22 May 2024

However, rare-earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium, which are required for the most powerful magnets for the latter, also represent a major choke point. —IEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024

Is digging up enough minerals like lithium, neodymium and dysprosium to enable the electric vehicle transition worth killing 44,000 small plants growing in the middle of the Nevada desert? —Danielle Chemtob, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from Greek dysprósitos "difficult to access" (from dys- dys- + prósitos "approachable," verbal adjective of próseimi, prosiénai "to go toward, approach," from pros- pros- + eîmi, iénai "to go") + New Latin -ium -ium — more at issue entry 1

Note: The element was named by the first person to isolate it, the French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1838-1912), reported in "Le holmine (ou terre X de M. Soret) contient au moins deux radicaux métalliques," Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences, tome 102 (janvier-juin 1886), pp. 1003-04. The name was apparently given because several hundred fractionations ("plusieurs centaines de fractionnements") were required to isolate a sufficient amount of it to test spectroscopically.

First Known Use

1886, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

dysprosium

noun

dys·​pro·​si·​um dis-ˈprō-zē-əm 

-zh(ē-)əm

: a chemical element that forms very magnetic compounds see element

Medical Definition

dysprosium

noun

dys·​pro·​si·​um dis-ˈprō-zē-əm  -zh(ē-)əm 

: an element of the rare-earth group that forms highly magnetic compounds

—symbol Dy see Chemical Elements Table