Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
lutetium

lutetium

1 9.9
A rare silvery metal used in some medical tests and scientific work
  • noun
  • /luˈtiːʃəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : lutecio
  • In 2009, a proposed six-year economic plan would have banned exports of terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, thulium, and lutetium.
  • lanthanum to lutetium
  • lutetium contract

Examples

  • In our lab, we have been able to grow sizable (10 x 10 x 1 mm) single crystals for R = terbium-lutetium and yttrium, as well as smaller single crystals for R-neodymium, samarium, and gadolinium.

    Academic text (1998)

Synonyms

Lu
vslutetium
  • Specialized
22 9.9

A chemical symbol for the rare metal with number 71 on the periodic table

is the full written name rather than a symbol
lutecium
vslutetium
  • Archaic
9.9

A rare metal found with other rare earth metals

is the standard name rather than the alternate spelling form
atomic number 71
vslutetium
  • Specialized
8.9

A rare metal element called lutetium that is often found with yttrium

is the element name instead of the numeric label

Surface Forms

lutetium singular
lutetiums plural

Morphology

lutetium = Lutetia (opaque) = lutet + ium

Although '-ium' signals a metallic element, the root 'lutet-' comes from the place name Lutetia and is not meaningful to most learners, so the relation is not obvious.

Etymology

Lutetium is named after Lutetia, the old Latin name for Paris. Scientists who discovered and studied this rare metal worked in Paris, so they gave it a name that reminds us of the city.