cerium
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cerium
- /ˈsɪəɹiəm/
Rhymes with -ɪəɹiəm
Where it comes from
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.
noun ceriums · cererium
- 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, an
Translations
Talk about this word "cerium." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cerium. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. cerium. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cerium "cerium." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cerium.Cite this
@misc{cerium_2026,
title = {cerium},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cerium},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
