terbium

noun

ter·​bi·​um ˈtər-bē-əm 

: a metallic element of the rare-earth group with atomic number 65 that occurs naturally only in combination and that is used especially in alloys for electronic equipment and as a green phosphor (see phosphor sense 2) in electronic displays see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of terbium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Both dysprosium and terbium were on a list of materials which China temporarily banned from export to the U.S. earlier this year. —Tim Treadgold, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025

In fact, China controls practically 100% of global supply of dysprosium and terbium and added both to export controls on April 4. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 17 June 2025

That refers to neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium. —Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 28 May 2025

Those rare earths included samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium. —Steve Banker, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Ytterby, Sweden

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for terbium

• erbium

Kids Definition

terbium

noun

ter·​bi·​um ˈtər-bē-əm 

: a rare metallic element see element

Medical Definition

terbium

noun

ter·​bi·​um ˈtər-bē-əm 

: a usually trivalent metallic element of the rare-earth group

—symbol Tb see Chemical Elements Table