rare earth

noun

1

: any of a group of similar oxides of metals or a mixture of such oxides occurring together in widely distributed but relatively scarce minerals

2

: rare earth element

Examples of rare earth in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

China has restricted sales of rare earth elements to coerce other countries in the past and threatened to restrict sales to the United States in 2019 in response to then U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods. —Vasabjit Banerjee, Foreign Affairs, 11 Oct. 2022

Sign up Global demand for rare earths is expected to skyrocket amid the global transition to green energy. —Harriet Marsden, The Week Uk, theweek, 3 July 2024

Today, a single country accounts for more than half the global supply of cobalt (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC), half the supply of lithium (Australia), and half the supply of rare earths (China). —Jason Bordoff, Foreign Affairs, 30 Nov. 2021

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence estimates that the United States and its partners need to invest $920 billion by 2035 to build supply chains for lithium, nickel, graphite, cobalt, manganese, copper, rare earths, and phosphate. —Daniel Baer, Foreign Affairs, 7 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1875, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

rare earth

noun

ˌrer-ˈərth 

1

: any of a group of similar oxides of metals or a mixture of such oxides occurring together in widely distributed but relatively scarce minerals

2

: rare earth element