didymium

[dahy-dim-ee-uhm, dih-]

noun

Chemistry.

1. a mixture of neodymium and praseodymium, formerly thought to be an element. Di

didymium

/ daɪˈdɪmɪəm, dɪ- /

noun

1. a mixture of the metallic rare earths neodymium and praseodymium, once thought to be an element

2. a mixture of rare earths and their oxides used in colouring glass

Word History and Origins

Origin of didymium¹

< New Latin < Greek dídym ( os ) twin ( didymous ) + -ium; so named by Swedish chemist Carl Mosander (1797–1858), who discovered it in 1843, from its close association with lanthanum

Word History and Origins

Origin of didymium¹

C19: from New Latin, from Greek didumos twin + _-ium

Example Sentences

They replaced didymium - wrongly thought to be an element but in fact a mixture of the two.

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Before closing up shop for the evening, Mr. Ford, squinting again through his Didymium glasses and reigniting his hand torch, went about the business of attaching a glass base to the stem of a goblet.

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On this night in his garage, Mr. Ford was squinting through a pair of Didymium safety glasses, repairing a glass vacuum manifold.

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Mr. Ford removed his Didymium glasses, which he said he needed to “filter out the yellow sodium flame, which is difficult to see through during the heating process,” and carefully laid the vacuum manifold in what looked like a box of cat litter but was actually vermiculite, a clay mineral used for thermal insulation.

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Yttrium, it′ri-um, n. a rare metal obtained as a blackish-gray powder, and contained in a few minerals in which there are usually also present compounds of one or more other rare metals, such as cerium, didymium, erbium, and lanthanum.—n.

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