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- n. lanthanide
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. any element of the lanthanide series (atomic numbers 57 through 71)
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Also since it has only one lanthanoid/cerium, which itself is usually removed due to its potential tetravalency, lanthanum is basically easy to purify.
Of course this is no promethium, but it could look like that: an otherwise typical lanthanoid, which however due to its radioactivity produces quite some heat and therefore on the surface quickly oxidizes to pink Pm2O3.
There are supply worries because demand for rare earth metals is likely to increase between 10% and 20% annually from growing use of such lanthanoid elements as neodymium, used to make generators for wind turbines, and dysprosium, used to make parts for hybrid car motors.