cerium en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Ceres (a famous asteroid and dwarf planet), + -ium. The element was discovered and named in 1803. It was named after the asteroid, which had been discovered recently (1801) and had been named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture. This was during an era when asteroids were culturally exciting things that humans were just beginning to understand properly in astronomical terms, and the era also featured a fascination with neoclassical themes and thus naming things after icons of ancient Greek and Roman mythology and literature.
Meanings
-
(uncountable, usually) A chemical element (symbol Ce) with an atomic number of 58, a very soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air.
Despite their name, rare earths are not so rare. The most common, cerium, is as plentiful in the Earth's crust as copper or lead. The difference between them and more familiar materials is that, in nature, rare earths are almost never found on their own. Rather, they're mixed with other minerals, and often at low concentrations, making them difficult to mine economically.
2025 July 18, Timothy McLaughlin, “A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border. The Kachin Independence Organization fought for decades in obscurity. Now it's supplying essential minerals to manufacturers around the world”, in Bloomberg Businessweek, archived from the original on 18 Jul 2025:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ceriums | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| cererium | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
noncerium · ferrocerium · cerous · cerium metals · dicerium · cerine · radiocerium · cerite · tricerium · cerate · cerium trichloride · ceroan · organocerium · ceric · cerium dioxide · ceriferous · cerium oxide · ceriation
Relateds
monazite · synchysite · CAN · rhabdophane · orthite · jeweller's rouge · Ceres · ceria · jeweler's rouge · allanite · hydroxylbastnasite · bastnasite
Translations (73)
de Cer (chemical element) · af serium (chemical element) · fo serium (chemical element) · lb Zer (chemical element) · kk церий (chemical element) · bg це́рий (chemical element) · ja セリウム (chemical element) · kw keryum (chemical element) · ms serium (chemical element) · ar كِيرِيُوم (chemical element) · vo zerin (chemical element) · nl cerium (chemical element) · sv cerium (chemical element) · fur ceri (chemical element) · hy ցերիում (chemical element) · sh cerijum (chemical element) · ga ceiriam (chemical element) · vi xeri (chemical element) · gv kerrium (chemical element) · ast ceriu (chemical element) · cs cer (chemical element) · pl cer (chemical element) · uz tseriy (chemical element) · gl cerio (chemical element) · mt sirjum (chemical element) · he סריום (chemical element) · es cerio (chemical element) · sh cerij (chemical element) · be цэ́рый (chemical element) · is serín (chemical element) · cmn 鈰 /铈 (chemical element) · la cerium (chemical element) · ug سېرىي (chemical element) · hu cérium (chemical element) · uk це́рій (chemical element) · cy ceriwm (chemical element) · pt cério (chemical element) · no cerium (chemical element) · ru це́рий (chemical element) · cs cér (chemical element) · sq cerium (chemical element) · eu zerioa (chemical element) · fi cerium (chemical element) · el δημήτριο (chemical element) · uz церий (chemical element) · ro ceriu (chemical element) · mk цериум (chemical element) · sh церијум (chemical element) · ka ცერიუმი (chemical element) · fr cérium (chemical element) · ko 세륨 (chemical element) · fa سریم (chemical element) · csb cer (chemical element) · ca ceri (chemical element) · lv cērijs (chemical element) · eo cerio (chemical element) · it cerio (chemical element) · da cerium (chemical element) · gd ceiriam (chemical element) · tr seryum (chemical element) · sl cerij (chemical element) · hi पुष्कला (chemical element) · fy cerium (chemical element) · km សេរ៉្យូម (chemical element) · sk cér (chemical element) · lt ceris (chemical element) · et tseerium (chemical element) · br seriom (chemical element) · th ซีเรียม (chemical element) · tg церий (chemical element) · mn цери (chemical element) · oc cèri (chemical element) · ar سِيرِيُوم (chemical element)