neodymium

Yellowish metallic element of the lanthanide series, atomic number 60, relative atomic mass 144.24. Its rose-coloured salts are used in colouring glass, and neodymium is used in lasers.

It was named in 1885 by Austrian chemist Carl von Welsbach, who fractionated it away from didymium (originally thought to be an element but actually a mixture of rare-earth metals consisting largely of neodymium, praesodymium, and cerium).