Phrase guide

rare earth

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Any of the naturally occurring oxides of the lanthanide metals; they are widely distributed in relatively small concentrations and are used in glassmaking, ceramic glazes etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

Examples

  • Meronyms: rare earth element, rare earth metal

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rare earth mineral

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A rare earth element.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Near-synonym: lanthanide

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rare earth metal, lanthanide

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: metal, element, substance, material

3

noun

Meaning 3

any element of the lanthanide series (atomic numbers 57 through 71)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: rare-earth element, lanthanoid, lanthanide, lanthanon

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: group, grouping

Narrower terms: terbium metal

History

Etymology

From rare + earth. First use appears c. 1841 in the publications of Henry Minchin Noad. See cite below.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: seldsame aarde — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Chinese Mandarin: 稀土 (xītǔ) — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Finnish: maametallimineraali — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • French: terre rare — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Georgian: იშვიათი მიწები (išviati mic̣ebi) — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • German: seltene Erde — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Indonesian: tanah jarang — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Irish: tearcithir — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Irish: tearc-chré — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Japanese: 希土類 (kidorui) — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Japanese: レアアース (rea-āsu) — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Kazakh: сирекжер (sirekjer) — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Korean: 희토류 (huitoryu) — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Polish: metal ziem rzadkich — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Portuguese: terra rara — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Russian: ре́дкие зе́мли (rédkije zémli) — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Spanish: tierra rara — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Vietnamese: đất hiếm — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals
  • Welsh: prinfwyn — naturally occurring oxide of the lanthanide metals