holmiumn.
/ˈhəʊlmɪəm/ Chemistry.
A silvery, relatively soft, metallic element of the lanthanide series which is present in monazite, gadolinite, and other rare-earth minerals and forms a series of strongly para-magnetic salts, mostly of a brown or yellow colour, in which it is trivalent. Atomic number 67; symbol Ho.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > elements and compounds > metals > specific elements > holmium > [noun]
holmium1879
1879 P. T. Cleve in Chem. News 12 Sept. 126/2 I propose for this metal the name of Holmium, Ho, derived from the latinized name of Stockholm, in the neighbourhood of which so many minerals rich in yttria are to be found.
1886 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 50 667 The earths which do not show the bands of holmium but give the bands of dysprosium are relatively rich in terbia.
1893 Jrnl. Chem. Soc. 64 ii. 467 The holmium oxides were obtained from strongly basic yttrium earths containing a large amount of yttrium oxide.
1924 J. W. Mellor Comprehensive Treat. Inorg. & Theoret. Chem. V. xxxviii. 696 The four rare earth elements—dysprosium, Dy; holmium, Ho; erbium, Er; and thulium, Tm—are considered as a family or sub-group of the yttrium elements.
1940 Nature 20 Apr. 633/1 The investigation of holmium with the mass-spectrograph has shown that the element is composed of one type of atom only, with a mass of 165.
1967 New Scientist 20 July 158/3 Accurately machined pole-pieces, such as could be turned out of dysprosium or holmium, would ensure better symmetry than currently used iron-free magnet coils.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
<
n.1879