ytterbium

Noun

ytterbium (usually uncountable, plural ytterbiums)

1. (usually) A metallic chemical element with an atomic number of 70.
   • At a meeting of the Russian Chemical Society held October 20, 1881 (and reported in the Bulletin de la Société Chimique de Paris, for August, 1882), Mendelejeff [Dmitri Mendeleev], the distinguished author of the periodic law, remarked that only two of the recently announced elements—scandium and...1883, H[enry] Carrington Bolton, “List of New Elements Announced since 1877”, in An Account of the Progress in Chemistry in the Year 1882. … From the Smithsonian Report for 1882, Washington, D.C....
   • The lanthanides samarium, europium and ytterbium possess relatively stable and long-known dispositive states.1991, John D. Corbett, “Coproportionation Routes to Reduced Lanthanide Halides”, in G[erd] Meyer, L[ester] R. Morss, editors, Synthesis of Lanthanide and Actinide Compounds (Topics in F-element...
   1. (countable, usually) An atom of this element.