decipiumn.
/dɪˈsɪpɪəm/, U.S. /dəˈsɪpiəm/ Chemistry. Now historical and rare.
A (supposed) rare earth element obtained from samarskite earths.Decipium was soon recognized to be a mixture of samarium and one or more other rare earth elements.
ΚΠ
1878 tr. M. Delafontaine in Chem. News 8 Nov. 223/1 Whilst prosecuting my researches on the samarskite earths of North Carolina I discovered in them a new metal which I have called Decipium.
1919 J. F. Spencer Metals Rare Earths i. 6 Decipium was shown in 1881 by Delafontaine to be a mixture of samarium and a new earth which has not been further investigated.
2011 P. Thyssen & K. Binnemans in K. A. Gschneider et al. Handbk. Physics & Chem. Rare Earths XLI. cclxviii. 7 The chemical community thus witnessed the appearance and disappearance of columbium, damarium, decipium.., and victorium, to name just a few examples.
Derivatives
deˈcipia n. [after French décipine (M. Delafontaine 1878, in Comptes rendus de l'Acad. des Sci. 87 634)] a metallic oxide of the (supposed) element decipium.
ΚΠ
1878 tr. M. Delafontaine in Chem. News 8 Nov. 223/1 In the present state of my knowledge I recognise in the samarskite earths of North Carolina (more or less combined with other earths) the following:—Yttria... Erbia... Decipia [etc.].
1902 B. Dales Contrib. Chem. Rare Earths 7 While studying the impure didymia from samarskite, Delafontaine discovered a new oxide which he called decipia.
1971 J. G. Parker & C. T. Baroch Rare-Earth Elem. ii. 16/2 Delafontaine..extracted from samarskite a supposed oxide which he called decipia, but Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran later found it to contain another earth.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1878