rare earth

English

Etymology

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

Noun

rare earth (plural rare earths)

1. (chemistry) 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.
   • 1841, Henry Minchin Noad, Lectures on Chemistry, Including Its Applications in the Arts, and the Analysis of Organic and Inorganic Compounds, page 375:

     The metallic base of yttria, a very rare earth, discovered in a mineral called godolinite.

2. A rare earth element.

Derived terms

• rare earth element
• rare earth metal
• rare earth mineral

Translations

naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals

• Afrikaans: seldsame aarde
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 稀土 (zh) (xītǔ)

• Finnish: maametallimineraali
• French: terre rare (fr) f
• Georgian: იშვიათი მიწები (išviati mic̣ebi)
• German: seltene Erde f
• Irish: tearcithir f, tearc-chré f
• Japanese: 希土類 (ja) (きどるい, kidorui), レア・アース (rea-āsu)
• Kazakh: сирекжер (sirekjer)
• Korean: 희토류(稀土類) (huitoryu)
• Polish: metal ziem rzadkich m
• Russian: ре́дкие зе́мли f pl (rédkije zémli)
• Spanish: tierra rara f
• Vietnamese: đất hiếm
• Welsh: prinfwyn m

Further reading

• rare-earth element on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “rare earth”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.