GC: pln

CT: The rare earth elements (REE) are a set of seventeen metallic elements. These include the fifteen lanthanides on the periodic table plus scandium and yttrium.

Rare earth elements are an essential part of many high-tech devices. The U.S. Geological Survey news release “Going Critical” explains: “Rare-earth elements (REE) are necessary components of more than 200 products across a wide range of applications, especially high-tech consumer products, such as cellular telephones, computer hard drives, electric and hybrid vehicles, and flat-screen monitors and televisions. Significant defense applications include electronic displays, guidance systems, lasers, and radar and sonar systems. Although the amount of REE used in a product may not be a significant part of that product by weight, value, or volume, the REE can be necessary for the device to function. For example, magnets made of REE often represent only a small fraction of the total weight, but without them, the spindle motors and voice coils of desktops and laptops would not be possible.

In 1993, 38 percent of world production of REEs was in China, 33 percent was in the United States, 12 percent was in Australia, and five percent each was in Malaysia and India. Several other countries, including Brazil, Canada, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, made up the remainder. However, in 2008, China accounted for more than 90 percent of world production of REEs, and by 2011, China accounted for 97 percent of world production. Beginning in 1990 and beyond, supplies of REEs became an issue as the Government of China began to change the amount of the REEs that it allows to be produced and exported. The Chinese Government also began to limit the number of Chinese and Sino-foreign joint-venture companies that could export REEs from China.”

S: AGI (last access: 20 January 2026)

N: 1. – rare (adj): [thin, few, unusual] late 14c., “thin, airy, porous” (opposed to dense); mid-15c., “few in number and widely separated, sparsely distributed, seldom found, very infrequent;” from Old French rer, rere “sparse” (14c.) and directly from Latin rarus “thinly sown, having a loose texture; not thick; having intervals between, full of empty spaces” (antonym of densus). Sometimes reconstructed to be from a PIE root *ere– “to separate; adjoin.”

– earth (n): Middle English erthe, from Old English eorþe “ground, soil, dirt, dry land; country, district,” also used (along with middangeard) for “the (material) world, the abode of man” (as opposed to the heavens or the underworld), from Proto-Germanic *ertho (source also of Old Frisian erthe “earth,” Old Saxon ertha, Old Norse jörð, Middle Dutch eerde, Dutch aarde, Old High German erda, German Erde, Gothic airþa), perhaps from an extended form of PIE root *er- (2) “earth, ground.”

– elements (pln): element, c. 1300, “earth, air, fire, or water; one of the four things regarded by the ancients as the constituents of all things,” from Old French element (10c.), from Latin elementum “rudiment, first principle, matter in its most basic form” (translating Greek stoikheion), origin and original sense unknown. Meaning “simplest component of a complex substance” is late 14c. Modern sense in chemistry is from 1813, but is not essentially different from the ancient one. Meaning “proper or natural environment of anything” is from 1590s, from the old notion that each class of living beings had its natural abode in one of the four elements. Elements “atmospheric force” is 1550s.

2. rare-earth element, also known as inner transition element, rare-earth metal, any member of the group of chemical elements consisting of three elements in Group 3 (scandium [Sc], yttrium [Y], and lanthanum [La]) and the first extended row of elements below the main body of the periodic table (cerium [Ce] through lutetium [Lu]). The elements cerium through lutetium are called the lanthanides, but many scientists also, though incorrectly, call those elements rare earths.

The term “rare earths” is a misnomer that can be traced back to the 18th century rare-earth element. At the time of their discovery, these elements were found in complex oxides, which were called “earths”. Additionally, these minerals appeared to be scarce, leading to the name “rare earths.” In reality, these elements are quite abundant and are found in many workable deposits worldwide.

3. Geochemistry; Chemistry: rare-earth element, REE.

• A rare earth element is one which belongs to a group of seventeen chemically similar metallic elements, comprising the fifteen members of the lanthanide series … and also scandium and yttrium.
• The name might be a bit of a misnomer. Most REEs aren’t actually that rare. … The rarity really comes from the fact that these elements are often difficult to mine because they are rarely found in concentrations that make them economically viable to mine.
• Rare earth elements are essential for many advanced technologies.

4. Geochemistry; Chemistry; Mineralogy: rare earths, rare earth oxides.

5. It is also important to note the distinction between rare earth elements and similar terms used in the resource sector. Two classifications that are often confused with rare earth elements are Rare Earth and Rare Metals.

• While the Rare Earth classification encompasses all the Rare Earth Elements, the term also includes the 15 metals in the Actinide group of the periodic table.
• Rare earth metals are the metallic form of rare earth elements (REEs), a group of critical materials essential to modern technology. These metals are widely used in electronics, clean energy technologies, renewable energy systems, advanced manufacturing, and lighting applications. From electric vehicle batteries to wind turbine generators and smartphones, rare earth metals play a key role in powering high-tech industries and supporting the global shift toward sustainable energy.
• Rare earth elements (REEs) are a group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements found in the Earth’s crust. They include 15 lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium. Their unique electronic structures give them special magnetic, optical, and catalytic properties, making them indispensable for applications such as electric motors, semiconductors, fiber optics, defense technologies, and clean energy innovation.

6. Cultural Interrelation: We may mention the NBC News article published on January 17, 2026, written by Jared Perlo and titled Global AI Race Makes Greenland’s Critical Minerals a Tempting Target, which analyzes the reasons behind US President Donald Trump’s interest in Greenland, particularly in relation to its strategic mineral resources.

It is also worth noting that the media tend to use the terms rare earth elements, rare earths, rare earth metals, and even rare earth minerals interchangeably, without drawing precise terminological distinctions, thereby contributing to conceptual confusion in the public debate.

S: 1. Etymonline – https://www.etymonline.com/word/rare, https://www.etymonline.com/word/earth, https://www.etymonline.com/word/element (last access: 20 January 2026). 2. EncBrit (last access: 19 January 2026). 3 & 4. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=RARE+EARTH+ELEMENT&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs, https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-eng.html?lang=eng&i=1&srchtxt=RARE+EARTHS&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 20 January 2026). 5. Investing News Network (last access: 19 January 2026); WPI (last access: 19 January 2026). 6. NBC News (last access: 19 January 2026).

OV: rare-earth elements.

S: TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 20 January 2026); EncBrit (last access: 19 January 2026).

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CR: air-gap generator, hybrid car, light-emitting diode, neodymium, nickel, wind turbine (1), wind turbine (2).