a silvery metallic element that is common in rare-earth minerals; used in magnesium and aluminum alloys
A silvery metallic chemical element (symbol Y) with an atomic number of 39, mainly found in combination with lanthanide elements in rare-earth minerals.
Yttrium is named after the Swedish village of Ytterby, the same location that gave its name to terbium, erbium, and ytterbium. The element's name combines this place with the suffix -ium.