Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A metallic mixture, once considered an element, composed of neodymium and praseodymium.
  • noun A mixture of rare-earth elements and oxides used chiefly in manufacturing and coloring various forms of glass.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Chemical symbol, D or Di. A supposed element announced by Mosander in 1841, so named from being, as it were, the twin brother of lanthanum, previously discovered in the same minerals which yielded didymium, and from whose compounds those of didymium are separated with much difficulty.
  • noun [capitalized] A genus of fungi belonging to the Myxomycetes.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) A rare metallic substance usually associated with the metal cerium; -- hence its name. It was formerly supposed to be an element, but has since been found to consist of two simpler elementary substances, neodymium and praseodymium. See neodymium, and praseodymium.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A mixture of praseodymium and neodymium once thought to be an element (symbol Di).

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Greek didumos, twin, double (from the fact that it was usually found associated with the previously discovered lanthanum ); see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • The word didymium comes from a Greek word meaning "twin," because it was closely associated with the element lanthanium, both of which were found with cerium.

    Week in Words Erin McKean 2011

  • Instead it is targeting the mixture—also known as didymium—that is crucial in making magnets.

    Week in Words Erin McKean 2011

  • Japan is the world's top importer of the minerals, which have such names as lanthanum and didymium.

    Traders Return to Rare-Earth Metals Brendan Conway 2011

  • Prices have increased after China, which controls about 95% of the world's rare-earth supply, said it would slash exports of the metals—such as lanthanum and didymium—by 35% this year.

    Molycorp Narrows Loss on Jump in Sales Volume John Kell 2011

  • Elemental Attraction didymium Yet it didn't pledge to underpin all rare-earth prices.

    Week in Words Erin McKean 2011

  • It produces rare-earth elements such as lanthanum and didymium.

    Envestnet, Chesapeake Midstream IPOs Up; Molycorp's Down 2010

  • Investing article about the IPO of Molycorp Inc. incorrectly said didymium is a rare-earth element.

    Corrections 2010

  • Now if they could just make them to hold my lampwork didymium lenses- that could be so cool.

    Rose Colored Glasses Studio Marcy - Marcy Lamberson 2009

  • This number coincides with the atomic volumes of zirconium (21.7), cerium (21.1), lanthanum (22.6), and didymium

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 365, December 30, 1882 Various

  • [Footnote 1: Has priority over niobium.] [Footnote 2: Now split into neo-and praseo-didymium.] [Footnote 3: Has priority over beryllium.] [Footnote 4: Standard, or basis of the system.] *****

    Scientific American Supplement, No. 803, May 23, 1891 Various

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