Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A silvery metallic element, not a rare earth but occurring in nearly all rare-earth minerals, used in various metallurgical applications, notably to increase the strength of magnesium and aluminum alloys. Atomic number 39; atomic weight 88.906; melting point 1,522°C; boiling point 3,338°C; specific gravity 4.45 (25°C); valence 3. See Table at element.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Chemical symbol, Y; atomic weight, 89 (?). A metal, the base of the earth yttria. But little is known of this metal, and its atomic weight has never been satisfactorily determined. As obtained by Cleve, yttrium is a dark-gray powder exhibiting a metallic luster under the burnisher. It belongs, with various other rare metals, to the cerium group, in regard to most of which, from their scarcity and their resemblance to one another, but little has been definitely made out.
Wiktionary
- n. A metallic chemical element (symbol Y) with an atomic number of 39.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Chem.) A rare metallic element of the boron-aluminium group, found in gadolinite and other rare minerals, and extracted as a dark gray powder. Symbol Y. Atomic number 39. Atomic weight, 88.9.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys
Etymologies
- From Ytterby, (literally, "outer village") a town in Sweden. (Wiktionary)
- From yttria. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“A material called yttrium barium copper oxide can be turned into a superconductor by exposure to liquid nitrogen - which makes it one of the highest-temperature superconductors.”
“The development project with mine-owner Wings Enterprises Inc. comes as concerns heighten about China's tight grip on production of metals such as yttrium required in hybrid vehicles, wind turbines, flat panel televisions, defense missiles and satellites.”
The Wall Street Journal: Glencore Backs Rare Earths Mining Project
“Solid oxide fuel cells typically require rare elements such as yttrium, zirconium, lanthanum, strontium or cesium, cerium, etc.”
“Exotic materials such as yttrium silver (a metallic compound that manages to be both ductile and strong at the same time) and lithium niobate (which does all manner of weird things to light) are fascinating regardless of whether they might be some sort of real-world equivalents of mithril or the palantirs.”
“Ninety per cent of rare earth elements, with arcane names such as yttrium, samarium and lanthanum, are mined in China, and are used in high-tech applications such as smartphones and lasers.”
“They say that minute amounts of a metal called 'yttrium' may impede neuronal activity.”
“China controls up to 97% of world production of these elements — which include samarium, scandium and yttrium — and its export quotas for this year are nearly exhausted.”
“I look forward to his discussion of scandium and yttrium.”
“Rare earth alloys include rare-earth ferrosilicon—with 17%-37% rare-earth content—which is used as an additive in steel and iron smelting, and magnesium rare earth, which contains 2%-10% of rare-earth elements yttrium and gadolinium and is used in the aviation, automotive and defense sectors.”
“In particular, China produces 97% of the world's supply of so-called "rare earth" elements, including neodymium, yttrium, dysprosium and 14 others, which have long been recognized as essential to the development of defense equipment ranging from helicopters to tank guns to missiles.”
The Huffington Post: Rizwan Ladha: The US Defense Establishment Is Tied Inextricably to China
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘yttrium’.
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INTA - GSP product categories
alkali metals, alkaline-earth me..., sodium, calcium, rare-earth metals, scandium, yttrium, intermixed, interalloyed, aluminium oxide, artificial corundum, ammonium sulphate and 99 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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Chemical Elements
A list of chemical elements
hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium and 106 more...
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y not
gadolinium, Ying Huhai, taciturn, atomic number 39, yttrium, contingent, loose, euxenite, humble, Steve Biko, adventitious, acyclic and 8 more...
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Serendipity's Words
defenestration, mercurial, syzygy, wicked, iniquitous, metastable, demimonde, entropic, ephemeral, irreligious, frisbee, manifold and 474 more...
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ktrey's wordlist
Words that I like.
Many may be lexicographically impotent due to a lack of citations and definition. Hopefully I'll be able to rectify this eventually.velleity, dispositive, bloviate, bibulous, fungible, concupiscence, avuncular, carnaptious, thrawn, hypocoristic, diegesis, lagniappe and 928 more...
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alchemicality
alchemical, alchemy, alchemist, hermetic, hermeticism, philosopher's stone, splendor solis, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, sulphur and 258 more...
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The Elements
hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium and 99 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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nobody's Words
blubber, poodle, quack, smite, pummel, fuzzy, onomatopoeia, ipsedixitism, pwn, cwm, nth, fluffy and 85 more...
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Y
Tweets
Looking for tweets for yttrium.
oroboros Y Dec 1, 2007