Where does “Seltenerdmagnet” come from?

Seltenerdmagnet (German) comes from German Seltenerde, from German selten, from Middle High German selten, from Old High German seltan, from Proto-Germanic seldana, from Proto-Germanic seldanē, from Proto-Germanic seldanaz — rare, strange.

Seltenerdmagnet (German): rare earth magnet

Definitions

  1. rare earth magnet

Ancestry of “Seltenerdmagnet”, step by step

Seltenerdmagnet traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via German Seltenerde

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanSeltenerderare earth
2Germanseltenrare, infrequent, uncommon, scarce; unusual,...
3Middle High Germanselten
4Old High Germanseltan
5Proto-Germanicseldana
6Proto-Germanicseldanēseldom; rarely
7Proto-Germanicseldanazrare, strange

via German Magnet

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanMagnetmagnet
2Latinmagnēs
3Ancient Greekμαγνήτης λίθοςMagnesian stone
Every word from Proto-Germanic seldanazEvery word from Proto-Germanic seldanēEvery word from Proto-Germanic seldana