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

The Northern Minerals project at Browns Range is reported to contain the biggest deposit of dysprosium and terbium outside China. —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

So where can American firms source dysprosium and terbium—and fast? —Charlie Campbell, Time, 17 June 2025

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

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

Rhymes for dysprosium

• symposium

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