erbium

E1R1B3I1U1M3
UK/ˈɜː.bɪ.əm/US/ˈɝ.bi.əm/

noun

A chemical element (symbol Er) with atomic number 68: a silvery-white metal, in nature always found in combination with other elements.

Similar
Eratomic number 68
OriginNew Latin erbium ← Swedish Ytterby ← Old Swedish bȳr →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

nounerbium (countable and uncountable, plural erbiums)

plural erbiums

  1. countableuncountablechemistryA chemical element (symbol Er) with atomic number 68: a silvery-white metal, in nature always found in combination with other elements.
    1. countablechemistryAn atom of this element.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs with yttrium

Similar
Eratomic number 68
Broader
metallic elementmetal
Also see
er

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úd
  2. Proto-Germanic*ūt
  3. Old Norseút
  4. Old Norseýtri
  5. Swedishyttre
  6. Swedishytter-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰuH-
  8. Proto-Germanic*būaną
  9. Old Norsebúa
  10. Old Norsebýr
  11. Old Swedishbȳr
  12. Swedishby
  13. SwedishYtterby
  14. New Latinerbium
  15. Englisherbium

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.

More words from New Latin, Swedish

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Arabic إِرْبِيُوم
  • إِرْبِيُوم (ʔirbiyūm)chemical element
Basque erbioa
  • erbioachemical element
Bulgarian е́рбий
  • е́рбий (érbij)chemical element
Catalan erbi
  • erbichemical element
Chinese Mandarin 鉺 /铒
  • 鉺 /铒 (ěr)chemical element
Czech erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Danish erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Dutch erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Esperanto erbio
  • erbiochemical element
Estonian erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Finnish erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
French erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
German Erbium
  • Erbiumchemical element
Greek έρβιο
  • έρβιο (érvio)chemical element
Hebrew ארביום
  • ארביום (érbiyum)chemical element
Hindi रक्तला
  • रक्तला (raktalā)chemical element
Hungarian erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Icelandic erbín
  • erbínchemical element
Irish eirbiam
  • eirbiamchemical element
Italian erbio
  • erbiochemical element
Japanese エルビウム
  • エルビウム (erubiumu)chemical element
Korean 에르븀, 어븀
  • 에르븀 (ereubyum)chemical element
  • 어븀 (eobyum)chemical element
Latin erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Latvian erbijs
  • erbijschemical element
Lithuanian erbis
  • erbischemical element
Malay erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Norwegian erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Polish erb
  • erbchemical element
Portuguese érbio
  • érbiochemical element
Romanian erbiu
  • erbiuchemical element
Russian э́рбий
  • э́рбий (érbij)chemical element
Scottish Gaelic eirbiam
  • eirbiamchemical element
Slovak erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Spanish erbio
  • erbiochemical element
Swedish erbium
  • erbiumchemical element
Tamil எல்லிரும்பு
  • எல்லிரும்பு (ellirumpu)chemical element
Thai เออร์เบียม
  • เออร์เบียม (əə-bîiam)chemical element
Turkish erbiyum
  • erbiyumchemical element
Ukrainian е́рбій
  • е́рбій (érbij)chemical element
Vietnamese eribi
  • eribichemical element
Welsh erbiwm
  • erbiwmchemical element

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with erbium

ytterbiumterbium
All rhymes →

Anagrams

imbuerimbrue
Cite this entry
APA

erbium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erbium

MLA

“erbium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erbium. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “erbium,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/erbium.

Source: erbium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.