ytterbium
Americannoun
noun
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A soft, silvery-white metallic element of the lanthanide series that occurs as seven stable isotopes. It is used as a radiation source for portable x-ray machines. Atomic number 70; atomic weight 173.04; melting point 824°C; boiling point 1,196°C; specific gravity 6.972 or 6.54 (25°C) depending on allotropic form; valence 2, 3.
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See Periodic Table
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ytterbium
From New Latin, dating back to 1875–80; see origin at ytterbia, -ium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Geological Survey geologists first identified rare earth mineralization in the Music Valley area in 1954, with sampling reporting enrichment in dysprosium, terbium, yttrium and ytterbium, Dateline Resources said in a press release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2026
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
Central to this innovation is the ytterbium thin-disk laser, which produces high-power, femtosecond pulses at megahertz repetition rates.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 18, 2024
Their qubits consist of individual ytterbium ions trapped in an electromagnetic field on the surface of a chip.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 4, 2021
Han and Xue built their nanoparticles using two rare earth metals called erbium and ytterbium, along with a protein called ConA.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 28, 2019
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
