ytterbium Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a soft silvery metallic element; a rare earth of the lanthanide series; it occurs in gadolinite and monazite and xenotime
    Yb; atomic number 70.

WordNet

Yt*ter"bi*um noun
Etymology
NL., fr. Ytterby, in Sweden. See Erbium.
Definitions
  1. (Chem.) A rare element of the boron group, sometimes associated with yttrium or other related elements, as in euxenite and gadolinite. Symbol Yb; provisional atomic weight 173.2. Cf. Yttrium. ✍ Ytterbium is associated with other rare elements, and probably has not been prepared in a pure state. purified before 1960

Webster 1913