dysprosium

noun

dys·​pro·​si·​um dis-ˈprō-zē-əm 

-zh(ē-)əm

: an element of the rare-earth group that forms highly magnetic compounds see Chemical Elements Table

Examples of dysprosium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, rare-earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium, which are required for the most powerful magnets for the latter, also represent a major choke point. —IEEE Spectrum, 15 Mar. 2024

Is digging up enough minerals like lithium, neodymium and dysprosium to enable the electric vehicle transition worth killing 44,000 small plants growing in the middle of the Nevada desert? —Danielle Chemtob, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024

The specific rare-earth elements are neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, and dysprosium. —IEEE Spectrum, 15 Nov. 2023

Also, the rare-earth elements used in permanent-magnet generators, such as neodymium and dysprosium, are in short supply. —IEEE Spectrum, 18 Sep. 2023

The need for dysprosium alone will increase by more than 2,500 percent by 2035, according to analysts at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. —Andrew Zaleski, Popular Mechanics, 22 Aug. 2023

But for starters, Phoenix is focused on the rare earths, exotic metals with names like neodymium and dysprosium. —Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 12 May 2022

For example, dysprosium is a mineral used for magnets in wind turbines and a big push for cleaner electricity would require three times as much dysprosium as currently produced, the paper said. —Seth Borenstein, ajc, 27 Jan. 2023

Nickel, necessary for the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles, is expected to face shortages of about 10 percent to 20 percent by 2030, while dysprosium, a rare-earth element commonly used in electric motors, may experience deficits of as much as 70 percent, McKinsey said. —BostonGlobe.com, 5 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from Greek dysprósitos "difficult to access" (from dys- dys- + prósitos "approachable," verbal adjective of próseimi, prosiénai "to go toward, approach," from pros- pros- + eîmi, iénai "to go") + New Latin -ium -ium — more at issue entry 1

Note: The element was named by the first person to isolate it, the French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran (1838-1912), reported in "Le holmine (ou terre X de M. Soret) contient au moins deux radicaux métalliques," Comptes rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l'Académie des Sciences, tome 102 (janvier-juin 1886), pp. 1003-04. The name was apparently given because several hundred fractionations ("plusieurs centaines de fractionnements") were required to isolate a sufficient amount of it to test spectroscopically.

First Known Use

1886, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

dysprosium

noun

dys·​pro·​si·​um dis-ˈprō-zē-əm 

-zh(ē-)əm

: a chemical element that forms very magnetic compounds see element

Medical Definition

dysprosium

noun

dys·​pro·​si·​um dis-ˈprō-zē-əm  -zh(ē-)əm 

: an element of the rare-earth group that forms highly magnetic compounds

—symbol Dy see Chemical Elements Table