A rare-earth element that has a silvery-metallic luster. Symbol, Y. Occurs in nearly all of the rare-earth minerals. Recovered commercially from monazite sand and from bastnasite. Widely used: in color television tubes; to reduce the grain size in chromium, molybdenum, zirconium, and titanium; to increase the strength of aluminum and 3642 magnesium alloys; as a deoxidizer for vanadium and other nonferrous metals; in nuclear technology for its high neutron transparency.