erbium
nounUK /ˈɜː.bɪ.əm/ · US /ˈɝ.bi.əm/
Etymology Borrowed from New Latin erbium; itself from Swedish Ytterby (the name of the town where the element was discovered) + -ium. Coined by Swedish chemist and mineralogist Carl Gustaf Mosander in 1843. Doublet of terbium, ytterbium, and yttrium.
1
A chemical element (symbol Er) with atomic number 68: a silvery-white metal, in nature always found in combination with other elements.
2
A single atom of this element.
- Derived terms
- dierbium, erbate, erbian, erbium oxide, erbium trichloride, organoerbium, radioerbium