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Rare earth elements became known to the world with the discovery of the black mineral ytterbite (also known as gadolinite) by Lieutenant Carl Axel Arrhenius in the year 1787, in a quarry in the village of Ytterby, Sweden. Many of the rare earths are named for the scientists who discovered or elucidated the elemental properties, or for their geographical discovery, or for Latin or Greek references, or for mythical references:
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Symbol |
Name |
Etymology |
Selected Usages |
| 57 |
La |
Lanthanum |
from the Greek "lanthanon," meaning I am hidden. |
|
| 58 |
Ce |
Cerium |
for the Roman deity of fertility Ceres. |
|
| 59 |
Pr |
Praseodymium |
from the Greek "praso," meaning leek-green, and "didymos," meaning twin. |
|
| 60 |
Nd |
Neodymium |
from the Greek "neo," meaning new-one, and "didymos," meaning twin. |
Neodymium magnets |
| 61 |
Pm |
Promethium |
for the Titan Prometheus, who brought fire to mortals. |
|
| 62 |
Sm |
Samarium |
for Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets, who discovered the rare earth ore samarskite. |
|
| 63 |
Eu |
Europium |
for the continent of Europe. |
|
| 64 |
Gd |
Gadolinium |
for Johan Gadolin (1760-1852), to honor his investigation of rare earths. |
|
| 65 |
Tb |
Terbium |
for the village of Ytterby, Sweden, where the first rare earth ore was discovered. |
|
| 66 |
Dy |
Dysprosium |
from the Greek "dysprositos," meaning hard to get. |
|
| 67 |
Ho |
Holmium |
for Stockholm (in Latin, "Holmia"), native city of one of its discoverers. |
|
| 68 |
Er |
Erbium |
for the village of Ytterby, Sweden. |
|
| 69 |
Tm |
Thulium |
for the mythological land of Thule. |
|
| 70 |
Yb |
Ytterbium |
for the village of Ytterby, Sweden. |
|
| 71 |
Lu |
Lutetium |
for Lutetia, the city which later became Paris. |
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