erbium

American  

[ur-bee-uhm] / ˈɜr bi əm /

noun

Chemistry.

1. a rare-earth metallic element, having pink salts. Er; 167.26; 68.

---

erbium British  

/ ˈɜːbɪəm /

noun

1. a soft malleable silvery-white element of the lanthanide series of metals: used in special alloys, room-temperature lasers, and as a pigment. Symbol: Er; atomic no: 68; atomic wt: 167.26; valency: 3; relative density: 9.006; melting pt: 1529°C; boiling pt: 2868°C

---

erbium Scientific  

/ ûr′bē-əm /

1. A soft, silvery, metallic element of the lanthanide series. It is used as a neutron absorber in nuclear technology and in light amplification for fiber-optic telecommunications. Atomic number 68; atomic weight 167.26; melting point 1,497°C; boiling point 2,900°C; specific gravity 9.051; valence 3.

2. See Periodic Table

---

Etymology

Origin of erbium

1835–45; < New Latin, named after Ytterby, Sweden, where first found; see -ium

Example Sentences

In the new study, Zhong's team succeeded in raising the coherence time of individual erbium atoms from 0.1 milliseconds to more than 10 milliseconds.

From Science Daily • Nov. 13, 2025

The region holds deposits of many of the very elements China has placed under export controls: yttrium, scandium, erbium, europium, ytterbium, samarium, and lutetium.

From Barron's • Oct. 24, 2025

Researchers in Australia and China have created such devices with erbium crystals, storing quantum states for several hours.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 19, 2024

The 17 elements are: lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, scandium, yttrium.

From Reuters • Jul. 5, 2023

Other elements are less familiar—hafnium, erbium, dyprosium and praseodymium, say, which we do not much bump into in everyday life.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan