pyrope

en-noun

pyrope (countable and uncountable, plural pyropes)

From Latin pyrōpus, from Ancient Greek πυρωπός (purōpós, “fiery-eyed, fire-colored”), from Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire”) + ὤψ (ṓps, “eye”); compare French pyrope.

der

(mineralogy) A variety of garnet, of a poppy or blood-red color, frequently with a tinge of orange. It is used as a gemstone.


pyrargyrite

en-noun

pyrargyrite (countable and uncountable, plural pyrargyrites)

From Ancient Greek πῦρ (pûr, “fire”) + ἄργῠρος (árguros, “silver”).

(mineralogy) A sulfosalt mineral used as a silver ore; it is dark red or black in color with a metallic adamantine luster, a sulfide of antimony and silver, Ag₃SbS₃, and occurs in rhombohedral crystals.


datolite

From Ancient Greek δατέομαι (datéomai, “to divide”) + -lite; in allusion to the granular structure of a massive variety.

uder

(mineralogy) A borosilicate of lime commonly occurring in glassy, greenish crystals, with the chemical formula CaBSiO₄(OH).


jeffersonite

From Jefferson + -ite, after Thomas Jefferson.

(mineralogy) A zinc-containing variety of pyroxene of olive-green color passing into brown.


magnesia

en-noun

magnesia (countable and uncountable, plural magnesias)

From Middle English magnesia, from Late Latin magnesia, from Ancient Greek μαγνησία (magnēsía), after Μαγνησία (Magnēsía), a name of several cities (in Thessaly, Lydia, and Asia Minor). Doublet of Magnesia, magnesium, and manganese, and related to magnet.

doublet

The apocrenates of iron and manganese are slightly soluble; those of lime, magnesia and alumina are insoluble.

1875, Journal of the Bath and West of England Society and Southern Counties Association for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, volumes 7-8, page 133:


damourite

en-noun

damourite (countable and uncountable, plural damourites)

(mineralogy) A kind of muscovite, or potash mica, containing water.


tungsten

tungsten (countable and uncountable, plural tungstens)

→ Japanese: タングステン (tangusuten)

→ Malay: tungsten

→ Spanish: tungsteno

From Swedish tungsten (“scheelite”), from tung (“heavy”) + sten (“stone”).

We apprehend that this is not the acid of a calx ponderoſa, but rather a diſtinct acid conjoined to common calcareous earth, ſince, in fact, in another place, § 97, the tungſten is mentioned as a calx ſaturated with a peculiar acid, perhaps of a metallic nature, for which the author himſelf refers us to the above § 33, and ſeems to think it the ſame as the acid there mentioned.

1783, “[Review of] Outlines of Mineralogy”, in Monthly Review, volume LXX, number VII, page 47:

(mineralogy, obsolete) scheelite, calcium tungstate


laurite

After Laura R. Joy, wife of American chemist C. A. Joy. Named in 1866.

(mineralogy) A rare sulphide of osmium and ruthenium found with platinum in Borneo and Oregon, with the chemical formula RuS₂.


argentine

argentine (countable and uncountable, plural argentines)

From Middle English argentyne, borrowed from Old French argentin (“silvery”), from Latin argentum (“silver”), equivalent to argent + -ine.

(mineralogy) A siliceous variety of calcite, or lime carbonate, having a silvery-white, pearly lustre, and a waving or curved lamellar structure.


laumontite

laumontite (usually uncountable, plural laumontites)

Named after the discoverer François Pierre Nicholas Gillet de Laumont (1747–1834) as lomonite, renamed as laumonite in 1809 and as laumontite in 1821. + -ite

(mineralogy) A mineral, of a white color and vitreous luster, with the chemical formula CaAl₂Si₄O₁₂·4H₂O. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime. Exposed to the air, it loses water, becomes opaque, and crumbles.


jet

jet (countable and uncountable, plural jets)

→ German: Jett

From Middle English get, geet, gete, from a northern form of Old French jayet, jaiet, gaiet, from Latin gagātēs, from Ancient Greek Γαγάτης (Gagátēs), from Γάγας (Gágas, “a town and river in Lycia”). Doublet of gagate.

There is also a factitious jeat made of glaſs, in imitation of the mineral jeat.

1735, [John Barrow], “JEAT”, in Dictionarium Polygraphicum: Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested. […], volume II (I–S), London: […] C[harles] Hitch and C[harles] Davis […], and S[amuel] Austen […], →OCLC:

(mineralogy) A hard, black form of coal, sometimes used in jewellery.


graphite

graphite (countable and uncountable, plural graphites)

Borrowed from German Graphit (A. G. Werner 1789), from Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “I write”).

Technical terms like ferrite, perlite, graphite, and hardenite were bandied to and fro, and when Paget glibly brought out such a rare exotic as ferro-molybdenum, Benson forgot that he was a master ship-builder, […]

1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 4, in Well Tackled!:

An allotrope of carbon, consisting of planes of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal arrays with the planes stacked loosely, that is used as a dry lubricant, in "lead" pencils, and as a moderator in some nuclear reactors.

Modern tennis racquets are made of graphite, fibreglass and other man-made materials.

Short for graphite-reinforced plastic, a composite plastic made with graphite fibers noted for light weight strength and stiffness.


agate

agate (countable and uncountable, plural agates)

From Middle French agathe, from Latin achatēs, from Ancient Greek ἀχάτης (akhátēs, “agate”).

The ends of the veil, drawn over her head, were embroidered with silver; she had long gold ear-rings; to a rich and large gold chain was suspended a cross set with precious stones; and over the arm of her chair hung a rosary of agate beads.

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 9:

Yes: living among the cohabations^([sic]) of Faust himself, among the litharge and agate and hyacinth and pearls.

1947, Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano, New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, page 86:

(countable, uncountable, mineralogy) A semitransparent, uncrystallized silicate mineral and semiprecious stone, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged and often curved in parallel alternating dark and light stripes or bands, or blended in clouds; various authorities call it a variety of chalcedony, a variety of quartz, or a combination of the two.


cacoxenite

From Ancient Greek κακός (kakós, “bad”) + ξένος (xénos, “guest”) because the phosphorous content of cacoxenite lessens the quality of iron smelted from ore containing it.

(inorganic chemistry, mineralogy) A soft phosphate of iron occurring in yellowish clumps: hydrated iron aluminum phosphate oxide: (Fe,Al)₂₅(PO₄)₁₇O₆(OH)₁₂·17H₂O.


azurite

/ˈæʒ.əˌɹaɪt/

/ˈæʒ.(j)ʊəɹˌaɪt/

/ˈæʒ(j)ʊˌɹaɪt/

From Persian لاژورد (lâžvard, “blue color”).

(mineralogy) A blue vitreous mineral; a basic hydrated copper carbonate, with the chemical formula Cu²⁺₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂, used since antiquity as a blue pigment or ores to extract metallic copper.


axinite

axinite (countable and uncountable, plural axinites)

(mineralogy) A borosilicate of aluminum, iron, and lime, commonly found in glassy, brown crystals with acute edges.


adamite

Named after French mineralogist Gilbert Joseph Adam (1795-1881) in 1866.

(mineralogy) A zinc arsenate hydroxide mineral, Zn₂AsO₄OH.


aventurine

aventurine (countable and uncountable, plural aventurines)

/əˈvɛn.t͡ʃə.ɹɪn/

/əˈvɛn.t͡ʃə.ɹɪn/

/əˈvɛn.t͡ʃəˌɹin/

Borrowed from French aventurine, from Italian avventurino, from avventurare (“to venture; to make lucky or prosperous”), from avventura (“chance; adventure, venture”) + -are (suffix forming the infinitive of most regular verbs), apparently so named because it was discovered by accident in Murano, Italy, when brass or copper filings were dropped into melted glass (see, however, the 1843 quotation).

The Sandaresus, an Arabian stone, classed by Pliny [the Elder] among the Carbunculi, seems to have been our Aventurine, for he describes it as full of golden stars shining through a transparent substance, not from the surface, but from within the body of the stone. The true Aventurine, or Goldie-stone, is a brownish semi-transparent quartz, full of specks of yellow mica.

1860, C[harles] W[illiam] King, “Aventurine”, in Antique Gems: Their Origin, Uses, and Value as Interpreters of Ancient History; and as Illustrative of Ancient Art: With Hints to Gem Collectors, London: John Murray, […], section I (Materials), page 63:

Aventurine is a variety of grainy quartz,—not quarts of rye whiskey, which there is too much of a venture in,—but quartz of silica, gold-spangled throughout with flakes of yellow mica. [...] There are two kinds of natural aventurine; the one with its spangles of yellow mica is well known as Muscovite talc. It was found on the shores of the White Sea in old times, and is now met with often in the mines of Silesia, in Bohemia, in France, and in Siberia. The other variety, more highly esteemed, is found in Spain and in Scotland. [...] Dealers have given the name of aventurine to a species of feldspar having the same external characteristics, and sold for the genuine, though a much softer stone. Such dealers are not honest.

1872 July, George S. Burleigh, “Precious Stones. IX. Aventurine and Lapis-lazuli.”, in Oliver Optic [pseudonym; William Taylor Adams], editor, Oliver Optic’s Magazine. Our Boys and Girls, volume XII, number 228, Boston, Mass.: Lee and Shepard, publishers; New York, N.Y.: Lee, Shepard and Dillingham, →OCLC, page 477, column 2:

[F]rom out the silken curtain-folds / Bare-footed and bare-headed three fair girls / In gilt and rosy raiment came: their feet / In dewy grasses glisten'd; and the hair / All over glanced with dewdrop or with gem / Like sparkles in the stone Avanturine.

1874, Alfred Tennyson, “Gareth and Lynette”, in Idylls of the King (The Works of Alfred Tennyson; V), cabinet edition, London: Henry S. King & Co., […], →OCLC, page 73:

During this period of two centuries little colour was employed in the lacquer-work, but much gold was used; and those particular kinds of work in which "clouded" gold effects, avanturines, and tesselated gold are introduced, as well as low-relief modelling of a most perfect kind, were invented and brought to a high state of perfection.

1882, Christopher Dresser, “The Lacquer Manufactures”, in Japan: Its Architecture, Art, and Art Manufactures, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 346–347:

Quartz with spangled inclusions is known as aventurine. The included minerals are scales of shiny mica or hematite. The most familiar aventurine is of a reddish-yellow color and has a coppery sheen. Only small quantities of aventurine have been found in the United States.

1957, Dorothy M[cKenney] Schlegel, “Semiprecious Gems”, in Gem Stones of the United States (Contributions to Economic Geology; Geological Survey Bulletin; 1042-G), Washington, D.C.: Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior; United States Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 222:

He stood up and gloomily opened a little silver-gilt box, its lid studded with aventurines. It was full of violet sweetmeats; he took one, feeling it with his fingers as he reflected upon the strange properties of this bonbon whose sugar-coating looked like hoar-frost; [...]

1998, Joris-Karl Huysmans, chapter 9, in Margaret Mauldon, transl., edited by Nicholas White, Against Nature (A rebours) (Oxford World’s Classics), Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 84:

Aventurin is also the name of a variety of quartz spangled with mica or other shiny mineral. A variety of spangled feldspar, found especially in Russia, and when polished used as a gem and highly prized, is also called Aventurin or popularly "sunstone".

2003, “The Mineral Kingdom. Dictionary of Gems, Jewels, Precious Metals and Minerals, with Their Significance and Use in the Superstition and Folklore of All Countries”, in Cora Linn Daniels, C[harles] M[acClellan] Stevans, editors, Encyclopædia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World: […], volume II, Honolulu, Hi.: University Press of the Pacific, →ISBN, page 724, column 1:

When I pulled off the lid, I found a leather bracelet inside. Its center held a pretty brass flower, painted white with soft pink tips on the petals, just like clover. On either side of the brass clover flower, one of the bracelet's leather strands had been strung with shimmering green rocks. "Those are aventurines," Peavine said when I touched one smooth stone. "They're for courage and luck. You got a lot of the first, but I figured you could use some of the second."

2015, Susan Vaught, “Three Weeks Later”, in Footer Davis Might be Probably is Crazy (A Paula Wiseman Book), New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, pages 226–227:

(mineralogy, by extension) A variety of translucent quartz, spangled throughout with scales of yellow mica.


aciculite

From Latin acicula, diminutive of acus (“needle”).

(mineralogy) A sulfide of bismuth, lead, and copper.


sandarac

sandarac (countable and uncountable, plural sandaracs)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sandarac.wav

From Latin sandaraca, from Ancient Greek σανδαράκη (sandarákē, “realgar”).

der

(mineralogy, archaic) Realgar; red sulphide of arsenic.


morion

From French morion, from Late Latin mōrion, a misreading in some manuscripts for Latin mormoriōn.

(mineralogy) A brown or black variety of quartz.


soap

en-noun

soap (countable and uncountable, plural soaps)

Sranan Tongo: sopo

→ Kari'na: sopo

→ Trió: sopo

→ Wayana: sopu

Tok Pisin: sop

→ Ajië: yööpö

→ Bemba: isopo

desctree

→ Burmese: ဆပ်ပြာ (hcappra)
→ Shan: သပ်ႉပျႃႇ (sâ̰p pjàa)

→ Chichewa: sopo

→ Dutch: soap

→ French: soap

→ German: Soap

→ Irish: sópa

→ Malayalam: സോപ്പ് (sōppŭ)

→ Maori: hopi

→ Marshallese: joob

→ Palauan: sob

→ Pohnpeian: sohpw

→ Tamil: சோப்பு (cōppu)

→ Teribe: söp

→ West Uvean: sop

desc

→ Xârâcùù: söpö

→ Xârâcùù: söpö

From Middle English sope, sape, from Old English sāpe (“soap, salve”), from Proto-West Germanic *saipā, from Proto-Germanic *saipǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *seyp- (“to pour out, drip, trickle, strain”).
Cognate with Scots saip, sape (“soap”), Saterland Frisian Seepe (“soap”), West Frisian sjippe (“soap”), Dutch zeep (“soap”), German Low German Seep (“soap”), German Seife (“soap”), Danish sæbe (“soap”), Swedish såpa (“soap”), Norwegian Bokmål såpe (“soap”), Norwegian Nynorsk såpe (“soap”), Faroese sápa (“soap”), Icelandic sápa (“soap”), Finnish saippua (“soap”), Finnish suopa (“soft soap”). Related also to Old English sāp (“amber, resin, pomade, unguent”), Latin sēbum (“tallow, fat, grease”). See seep. Latin sāpō (“soap”) is a borrowing from the Germanic.

cog

I tried washing my hands with soap, but the stain wouldn't go away.

(countable, uncountable, informal, by extension, mineralogy) Some other substance, often a detergent or another surfactant, able to mix with both oil and water, used for cleaning.


garnet

en-noun

garnet (countable and uncountable, plural garnets)

From Middle English gernet, granate, from Old French grenate, from grenat (“pomegranate red”). Doublet of grenade.

How many needles Betty Flanders had lost there! and her garnet brooch.

1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room, Vintage Classics, page 127:

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

2012 March 14, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2012-06-14, page 128:

(mineralogy) A hard transparent mineral that is often used as gemstones and abrasives.


beryl

beryl (countable and uncountable, plural beryls)

Inherited from Middle English beryl, from Old French beril, from Latin bērillus, bēryllus, from Ancient Greek βήρυλλος (bḗrullos, “beryl”).

der

The sunset had been magnificent, and the Thames was floating in dark radiance; the waves wearing that transparent clearness, which gives more the idea of melted beryl, than aught else: every little circle in the water had that trembling light which characterises precious stones.

1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Fête”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 57:

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are diamond, ruby and sapphire, emerald and other gem forms of the mineral beryl, chrysoberyl, tanzanite, tsavorite, topaz and jade.

(uncountable, mineralogy) A mineral of pegmatite deposits, often used as a gemstone (molecular formula Be₃Al₂Si₆O₁₈).


augite

en-noun

augite (countable and uncountable, plural augites)

(mineralogy) A variety of pyroxene, usually of a black or dark green color, occurring in igneous rocks, such as basalt.


halite

halite (countable and uncountable, plural halites)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-halite.wav

From Ancient Greek ἅλς (háls, “salt”), + -ite.

(mineralogy) Native salt; sodium chloride NaCl as a mineral; rock salt.


gypsum

gypsum (countable and uncountable, plural gypsums or gypsa)

From Latin gypsum, from Ancient Greek γύψος (gúpsos). Doublet of gesso.

Besides being abundant, gypsum is easily refined into a powder for plaster or formed into sheets of wallboard.

1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 7:

A mineral consisting of hydrated calcium sulphate. When calcinated, it forms plaster of Paris.


galena

galena (usually uncountable, plural galenas or galenae)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-galena.wav

From Latin galēna (“dross from smelting lead”).

der

You can easily extract lead from galena, a natural mineral which has been used in crystal radio receivers.

1939 November, Raymond B. Wailes, “Chemical Engineering for Home Experimenters”, in Popular Science, page 207:

1942, G. F. Loughlin, A. H. Koschmann, Geology and Ore Deposits of the Magdalena Mining District, New Mexico, Geological Survey Professional Paper, Issue 200, page 98,
The galena of the ore contains microscopic inclusions of various forms that become visible upon polished surfaces etched with hydrochloric or nitric acid.

These samples had higher Pb²⁰⁶ and Pb²⁰⁸ abundances than any other galenas yet examined.

1953, “Report of the Committee on the Measurement of Geologic Time”, in U.S, National Research Council, page 132:

Very little galena has been reported (recovered mostly from burial mounds) in the Great Lakes region indicating that the mineral was not a major interregional exchange commodity during this period. However, numerous galenas have been recovered from the lower Mississippi Valley region and Florida indicating that galena was part of an important north-south exchange system (Walthall 1981).

2008, Sanghamitra Ghosh, Heavy Stable Isotope Investigations in Environmental Science and Archaeology, page 77:

(mineralogy) A mineral, lead sulphide (PbS), mined as an ore for lead.


rutile

en-noun

rutile (countable and uncountable, plural rutiles)

From Latin rutilus (“red”) because of its common color, named in 1803.

(mineralogy) The most frequent of the three polymorphs of titanium dioxide, crystalizing in the tetragonal system, TiO₂.

рутил

the most frequent of the three polymorphs of titanium dioxide


opal

In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος (opállios), from Sanskrit उपल (upala, “gem, stone”), from उपरि (upári, “the upper millstone”). Distantly related to over.

أُوبَال

a mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity

(mineralogy) A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.

(gemology) A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)


pyrite

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-pyrite.wav

Recorded since 1555, from Old French pyrite (12th century), from Latin pȳritēs, from Ancient Greek πυρίτης λίθος (purítēs líthos, “stone of fire, flint”) (so called because it glitters), notably the first part: adjective πυρίτης (purítēs, “of or in fire”), from πῦρ (pûr, “fire”). Analyzable as pyr- + -ite

der

πυρίτης λίθος

(mineralogy) The common mineral iron disulfide (FeS₂), of a pale brass-yellow color and brilliant metallic luster, crystallizing in the isometric system.


onyx

en-noun

onyx (countable and uncountable, plural onyxes)

From Middle English onix (c. 1300), earlier oniche (c. 1250), from Old French oniche or onix, from Latin onyx, from Ancient Greek ὄνυξ (ónux, “onyx”). Doublet of unguis.

People talk about using marble in the bathrooms. Marble wasn't good enough for use—we have onyx!

2023 September 23, Tom Robbins, “Suite dreams”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 1:

(mineralogy) A banded variety of chalcedony, a cryptocrystalline form of quartz.


zircon

zircon (countable and uncountable, plural zircons)

From German Zirkon, possibly via French zircon, formed in the 1780s from Arabic زَرْقُون (zarqūn). Doublet of jargoon.

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […]. (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

(uncountable) A mineral occurring in tetragonal crystals, usually of a brown or grey colour and consisting of silica and zirconia.


talc

talc (countable and uncountable, plural talcs)

From Middle French talc, from Arabic طَلْق (ṭalq), from Persian تلک (talk), from Middle Persian [Term?] (“medicament”).

The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Clarendon Press
w:Oxford University Press

(obsolete) Originally a large range of transparent or glistening foliated minerals. Examples include mica, selenite and the hydrated magnesium silicate that the term talc generally has referred to in modern times (see below). Also an item made of such a mineral and depending for its function on the special nature of the mineral (see next). Mediaeval writers adopted the term from the Arabic.

M. [Antonie van] Leeuwenhoek fixed his objects, if they were ſolid, to the foregoing point with glue; if they were fluid, he fitted them on a little plate of talc, or exceeding thin blown glaſs, which he afterwards glued to the needle, in the ſame manner as his other objects.

1787, George Adams, Essays on the Microscope; containing a Practical Description of the most Improved Microscopes: a General History of Insects, their Transformations, Peculiar Habits, and Œconomy: an Account of the Various Species and Singular Properties of the Hydræ and Vorticellæ: a Description of Three Hundred and Seventy-nine Animalcula; with a Concise Catalogue of Interesting Objects: a View of the Organization of Timber, and the Configuration of Salts when under the Microscope, London: Printed for the author, by Robert Hindmarsh, Printer to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, No. 32, Clerkenwell-Close; and sold by the author, at his Shop, Tycho Brahe's Head, No. 60, Fleet-Street, →OCLC, page 7:

(obsolete) A microscope slide made of a plate of mica, generally in use from the start of modern microscopy until the early nineteenth century, after which glass slides became the standard medium.

With this background and experience we feel justified in stating that not all talcs contain, or are associated with, asbestos.

1978, C. J. Parmentier with G. J. Gill, “Practical Aspects of Talc and Asbestos”, in C. C. Gravatt, Philip D. LaFleur, Kurt F. J. Heinrich, editors, Proceedings of Workshop on Asbestos, Definitions and Measurement Methods, page 406:

For example, Montana talcs approximate the theoretical composition, while California talcs often contain calcite (CaCO₃) and dolomite (CaCO₃ • MgCO₃).

1987, Joseph A. Radosta with Nikhil C. Trivedi, “Talc”, in H. S. Katz, J. V. Mileski, editors, Handbook of Fillers For Plastics, page 217:

Micronized talcs and, to an even higher degree, submicrometer talcs significantly influence the processing parameters.

2003, Harutun Karian, Handbook of Polypropylene and Polypropylene Composites, revised & expanded edition, page 573:

A soft mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, that has a soapy feel and a greenish, whitish, or grayish color, and usually occurs in foliated masses.


mica

mica (countable and uncountable, plural micas)

Borrowed from Latin mīca (“grain, crumb”).

His little eyes glittered like mica discs with curiosity, though he tried to keep up a bit of superciliousness.

1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 214:

(mineralogy) Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.

雲母

うんも, unmo, うんぼ, unbo, きらら, kirara, きら, kira


sard

sard (countable and uncountable, plural sards)

From Middle English sarde, borrowed from Old French sarde, from Latin sarda, sardius. Doublet of sardius.

(mineralogy) A variety of carnelian, of a rich reddish yellow or brownish red color.


clinozoisite

clinozoisite (countable and uncountable, plural clinozoisites)

(mineralogy) A basic calcium aluminosilicate found in crystalline schists, a metamorphic product of calcium feldspar.


argentite

argentite (countable and uncountable, plural argentites)

(mineralogy) Silver sulfide, (Ag₂S), a primary ore of silver, in cubic or hexoctahedral crystals.


chalcocite

chalcocite (countable and uncountable, plural chalcocites)

Their croppings are either entirely barren or contain only a moderate amount of copper, but much richer ore is ordinarily found just above the chalcocite zone.

1905, Waldemar Lindgren, The Copper Deposits of the Clifton-Morenci District, Arizona, page 207:

(mineralogy) Cuprous sulfide, Cu₂S, an important ore of copper.


sanidine

sanidine (countable and uncountable, plural sanidines)

From Ancient Greek σανίς (sanís, “board”) + -ine.

(mineralogy) A variety of orthoclase feldspar found as tabular crystals embedded in volcanic rocks. Some forms (called moonstone) exhibit adularescence.


adularia

Named for the type locality at Adular, Switzerland.

(mineralogy) A variety of orthoclase feldspar found as colorless to white prismatic crystals in cavities in metamorphic rocks. Some specimens reflect a bluish sheen along crystal faces. This phenomenon is called adularescence, and adularia with this property is called moonstone. (See sanidine).


orthoclase

orthoclase (countable and uncountable, plural orthoclases)

(mineralogy) Potassium aluminum silicate, KAlSi₃O₈, a common feldspar of igneous, plutonic, and metamorphic rocks. Orthoclase is the main feldspar of pegmatite occurrences, where it is most commonly flesh-colored. Orthoclase is used in the ceramic and glass industries and as a decorative gravel.


andesine

andesine (countable and uncountable, plural andesines)

From Andes + -ine, after its type locality in the Andes of Colombia.

(mineralogy) Sodium calcium aluminum silicate, (Na_xCa_xAlSi_3O_8), a plagioclase feldspar, the third member of the albite-anorthite solid solution series. Found in fine-grained andesite lavas; crystals are rarely seen.


oligoclase

oligoclase (usually uncountable, plural oligoclases)

(mineralogy) A plagioclase feldspar, the second member of the Albite-Anorthite solid solution series. Primarily found as small crystals in impure marble. Oligoclase contains a small amount of calcium substituting for some of the sodium in its formula. Oligoclase with reddish-golden inclusions found in Norway and Canada is called sunstone.


plagioclase

plagioclase (usually uncountable, plural plagioclases)

From plagio- + -clase, after German Plagioklas.

These crystals are of one of the most abundant minerals in nature – feldspar; furthermore, they are of a particular kind of feldspar rich in the element calcium, termed plagioclase.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 51:

(mineralogy) Any of a group of aluminum silicate feldspathic minerals ranging in their ratio of calcium to sodium.


albite

From Latin albus (“white”), the common color of the mineral, + -ite.

(mineralogy) A plagioclase feldspar, the first member of the Albite-Anorthite solid solution series.


microcline

microcline (countable and uncountable, plural microclines)

(mineralogy) A common feldspar of igneous, plutonic, and metamorphic rocks, made of potassium aluminum silicate, with the chemical formula KAlSi₃O₈.


feldspar

feldspar (countable and uncountable, plural feldspars)

Partial calque of German Feldspat, formed from Feld (“field”) + Spat (“spar”), the second element replaced with the English cognate spar.

(mineralogy) Any of a large group of rock-forming minerals that, together, make up about 60% of the earth's outer crust.

veldspaat

any of a large group of rock-forming minerals


labradorite

labradorite (usually uncountable, plural labradorites)

/ˈlæb.ɹəˌdɔɹˌaɪt/

/ˌlæb.ɹəˈdɔɹˌaɪt/

(mineralogy) A plagioclase feldspar mineral, calcium sodium aluminum silicate, often very coarsely crystalline, used as a decorative stone for carvings and building façades.


bytownite

bytownite (usually uncountable, plural bytownites)

From Bytown + -ite, named for the type locality in Bytown (now Ottawa), Canada, but this locality was later discredited. The name, however, was kept.

(mineralogy) A plagioclase feldspar, the fifth member of the Albite-Anorthite solid solution series. Bytownite is rare, and normally occurs in small grains in lime-rich igneous rocks. Clear pale yellow crystals have come from Mexico and Oregon.


anorthite

anorthite (countable and uncountable, plural anorthites)

From Ancient Greek αν- (an-, “not”) + ὀρθός (orthós, “straight”) "not perpendicular; less than straight", in reference to its odd.

(mineralogy) A variety of plagioclase feldspar, the calcium endmember of that series.


nepheline

nepheline (countable and uncountable, plural nephelines)

From Ancient Greek νεφέλη (nephélē, “cloud”), because crystals become cloudy when exposed to acid, + -ine.

(mineralogy) A feldspathoid mineral of silica-poor igneous, plutonic and volcanic rocks. Chemically, nepheline is a plagioclase feldspar with insufficient silica to satisfy the chemical bonds. Because of the unfilled bonds, nepheline weathers rapidly and can only be seen as inclusions in freshly broken rock.


leucite

leucite (countable and uncountable, plural leucites)

From Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + -ite.

(mineralogy) A mineral of silica-poor igneous, plutonic and volcanic rocks. Chemically, leucite is a potassium feldspar with insufficient silica to satisfy the chemical bonds. Because of the unfilled bonds, leucite weathers rapidly and can only be seen as inclusions in freshly broken rock.


morganite

morganite (countable and uncountable, plural morganites)

(mineralogy) A gemstone of pegmatite deposits. Morganite is a transparent pink variety of beryl.


tridymite

tridymite (countable and uncountable, plural tridymites)

The name refers to the peculiar habit of crystallizing in groups of three individuals.

(mineralogy) A rare mineral of volcanic rocks that solidified at a high temperature, with the chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO₂. Tridymite is chemically identical to quartz, but has a different crystal structure. Sometimes contains sodium aluminum silicate, which seems to be expelled when quartz solidifies at lower temperatures.


cristobalite

cristobalite (countable and uncountable, plural cristobalites)

Named for the type locality at Cerro San Cristóbal, Mexico, + -ite.

(mineralogy) A mineral of volcanic rocks that solidified at a high temperature. Cristobalite is chemically identical to quartz, with the chemical formula SiO₂, but has a different crystal structure. Crystals are always microscopic, and usually form small rounded masses.


limestone

limestone (countable and uncountable, plural limestones)

a limestone viaduct

As each blast furnace uses 200 tons of limestone daily, and each limestone kiln 150 tons, a total of 730 tons of limestone has to be carried daily, in addition to limestone chippings, which are sold.

1939 July, “What the Railways are Doing: The New Ebbw Vale Steelworks”, in Railway Magazine, page 68:

The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

An abundant rock of marine and fresh-water sediments; primarily composed of calcite (CaCO₃); it occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous.


sodalite

sodalite (countable and uncountable, plural sodalites)

Named for the alkaline silicate composition.

(mineralogy) A mineral of alkaline igneous and plutonic rocks that are low in silica, of the chemical composition of sodium aluminum silicate with chlorine, Na₄Al₃Si₃O₁₂Cl. Pink sodalite is sometimes called hackmanite. Sodalite and lazurite form the sodalite Group of silicate minerals.


lazurite

lazurite (usually uncountable, plural lazurites)

From Medieval Latin lazur (“lapis lazuli”) (from Arabic لَازَوَرْد (lāzaward), from Persian لاژورد (lâžvard)) + -ite.

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

(mineralogy) A mineral of metamorphosed limestones. Lazurite forms the gemstone lapis lazuli, and crushed lazurite provided the ultramarine color in artists' paint of the Old Masters. Sodalite and lazurite form the sodalite group of silicate minerals. Chemical composition: Sodium aluminum silicate with sulphur, Na₄₋₅Al₃Si₃O₁₂S.


quartz

quartz (countable and uncountable, plural quartzes)

→ Malay: kuarza

From German Quarz, from Middle High German (Central East German) quarz, twarc, from a West Slavic language [compare Polish twardy (“hard”), Czech tvrdý (“hard”)], from Proto-Slavic *tvьrdъ.

The telescope and collimator have each an object-glass consisting of a single lens of quartz 1½ inch diameter and a focal length of 18½ inches for the sodium yellow light, but not more than 16 inches for the highest rays measured.

1883, George Downing Liveing, James Dewar, “On the Ultra-Violet Spectra of the Elements”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, volume 174, Barrison and Sons, part I, page 188:

Subsequently, the old Malay brought him the present specimen in a state of torpidity, telling him he had found it in a cavity of the quartz reef.

1892 April 14, Armiger Barczinsky, “The Golden Snail”, in Sylvanus Urban (pseudonym of Edward Cave), editor, The Gentleman's Magazine, volume 272, page 331:

My meat eats me. Who waits at the gate? / Mother of quartz, your words writhe into my ear. / Renew the light, lewd whisper.

1948, Theodore Roethke, “The Shape of the Fire”, in The Lost Son and Other Poems; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 62:

(mineralogy) The most abundant mineral on the earth's surface, of chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO₂. It occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous. Found in every environment.


asbestos

asbestos (countable and uncountable, plural asbestoses or (rare) asbesti)

asbestoses (plural)
asbesti (plural rare)

From Old French abestos, from Latin asbestos, itself from Ancient Greek ἄσβεστος (ásbestos, “unquenchable, inextinguishable”), from ᾰ̓- (a-, “not”) + σβέννῡμῐ (sbénnūmi, “I quench, quell”).

der

All types of asbestos are potentially carcinogenic when inhaled.

Asbestos insulation was once ubiquitous.

Consul Baker, of Antung, China, states that valuable deposits of asbestos have been found in the vicinity of Kuantien, a small town lying about 45 miles northeast of Antung.[…]There are three mines now in operation, each employing about 30 workers. These workers, however, are mostly farmers who devote only their spare time to mining and use simply hammers and chisels and gather only the asbestos which lies near the surface.

1913 February, “Asbestos Mines in China”, in Mines and Minerals, volume XXXIII, number 7, Scranton, PA, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 398, column 3:

Insulation against sound and changes in external temperature is given by a thickness of asbestos on the inside of the panels.

1946 November and December, “New L.M.S.R. Royal Coaches”, in Railway Magazine, page 371:

(mineralogy) Any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, chemical filters, suits, fireman's gloves, etc.

asbes

any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate

blue asbestos

(forms of magnesium silicate): serpentine: parachrysotile, amianthus, common asbestos, chrysotile; amphibole

(mineralogy) Any of asbestos-like forms of several minerals, asbestiforms


magnetite

From magnet + -ite, after German Magnetit.

Coordinate term: hematite

Appropriately enough, the commonest of these, a simple iron oxide, is called magnetite.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 137:

(mineralogy) A magnetic mineral, Fe₃O₄, one of the primary ores of iron.


uranite

en-noun

uranite (countable and uncountable, plural uranites)

A dark, lustrous, heavy mineral, a source of uranium and radium.


pitchblende

pitchblende (countable and uncountable, plural pitchblendes)

From German Pechblende, from Pech (“pitch”) + Blende (“blende”).

Working in Paris in 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie processed thousands of pounds of pitchblende from the same glass-factory tailings in order to isolate two radioactive elements that had hitherto been unknown: radium and polonium.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 205:

(mineralogy) Naturally-occurring uranium oxide, a variety of the mineral uraninite.


heliotrope

heliotrope (countable and uncountable, plural heliotropes)

PIE word
 *sóh₂wl̥
The noun is borrowed from French héliotrope, from Latin hēliotropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”), from Ancient Greek ἡλῐοτρόπῐον (hēliotrópion, “European heliotrope (Heliotropium europaeum); bloodstone; solar clock, sundial”), from ἥλῐος (hḗlios, “the sun”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sóh₂wl̥ (“the sun”)) + τρόπος (trópos, “a turn”) (from τρέπω (trépō, “to rotate; to turn”) (from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to turn”)) + -ος (-os, suffix forming nouns from verbs)) + -ῐον (-ion, diminutive suffix forming nouns).
The French-derived spelling displaced Middle English elitrope, eliotropius, elitropium (“plant which turns to face the sun; bloodstone”) [and other forms], from Old English eliotropus, from Latin hēliotropium (see above); and Old English siġelhweorfa, sōlsece, and sunnfolgend (“heliotrope flower”).
Sense 6 (“synonym of bloodstone”) is from the fact that a piece of the mineral placed in water is said to change the sun’s rays to a blood-red colour: see the 1601 quotation.
The adjective is probably derived from the noun.

ref

From the B. A. Colonna collection, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.A.

nb...

eliscrope, eliotropia, elitrepie, elitropius

heliotropi

plant with flowers which turn to face and follow the sun

garden heliotrope

Heliotropium arborescens or Valeriana officinalis

The pretious ſtone Heliotropium, is found in Æthiopia, Affricke, and Cyprus: the ground thereof is a deepe greene in manner of a leeke, but the ſame is garniſhed vvith veins of bloud: the reaſon of the name Heliotropium is this, For that if it be throvvne into a paile of vvater, it chaungeth the raies of the Sun by vvay of reverberation into a bloudie colour, eſpecially that vvhich commeth out of Æthiopia: the ſame beeing vvithout the vvater, doth repreſent the bodie of the Sun, like unto a mirroir:[…]

[1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book XXXVII.] Of Certaine Gems Digested in Order According to the Alphabet.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 2nd tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 627:

Amid this dread exuberance of woe / Ran naked spirits wing'd with horrid fear, / Nor hope had they of crevice where to hide, / Or heliotrope to charm them out of view.

1814, Dante Alighieri, “Canto XXIV”, in H[enry] F[rancis] Cary, transl., The Vision; or, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, of Dante Alighieri. […], volume I (Hell), London: […] [J. Barfield] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 104, lines 89–92:

(countable, uncountable, mineralogy) Synonym of bloodstone (“a green chalcedony that is sprinkled with red spots or veins of hematite”)

heliotrop

synonym of bloodstone — see also bloodstone


salt shaker

A small container designed to hold salt and facilitate sprinkling it on food for seasoning purposes.


corundum

en-noun

corundum (countable and uncountable, plural corundums)

From Tamil குருந்தம் (kuruntam, “ruby, sapphire”) First attested in the early 18th century.

etydate

(mineralogy) An extremely hard mineral, a form of aluminum oxide with the chemical formula Al₂O₃, that occurs in the form of the gemstones sapphire and ruby; it is used as an abrasive.


black jack

en-noun

black jack (countable and uncountable, plural black jacks)


haematite

haematite (countable and uncountable, plural haematites)

(chiefly British spelling) Alternative spelling of hematite


glance

glance (countable and uncountable, plural glances)

From Late Middle English glaunce (compare glaunce-ore (“type of ore; lead ore used for glazing pottery (?)”)), borrowed from Middle High German glanz (“(adjective) gleaming, glittering, sparkling; (noun) a gleam, glitter, sparkle”), from Old High German glanz (“bright”, adjective), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰlend-.

der

Short for glance coal (“any hard, lustrous coal such as anthracite”).


minette

The minettes of Buell Mountain are felsic, and many contain ground-mass quartz.

(mineralogy) A mineral deposit consisting of iron ore of sedimentary origin, found in the south of Luxembourg and in Lorraine.


cummingtonite

en-noun

cummingtonite (countable and uncountable, plural cummingtonites)

From Cummington + -ite, since it was originally discovered in Cummington, Massachusetts.

(mineralogy) A mineral, magnesium-iron silicate hydroxide, (Mg,Fe)₇Si₈O₂₂(OH)₂.

cummingtoniet

mineral magnesium-iron silicate hydroxide


vermiculite

vermiculite (countable and uncountable, plural vermiculites)

From Latin vermiculus (“wormlet”), for its fibrous nature and tendency to expand into worm-like shapes when heated.

(mineralogy) A hydrated silicate mineral which expands on heating; it is used in insulation and as a medium for planting.


cinnabar

cinnabar (countable and uncountable, plural cinnabars)

/ˈsɪn.əˌbɑɹ/

/ˈsɪn.əˌbɑɹ/

First attested in the mid-15th century. From Middle English cynabare, from Old French cinabre, from Latin cinnabaris, from Ancient Greek κιννάβαρι (kinnábari), of unknown origin.

A deep red mineral, mercuric sulfide, HgS; the principal ore of mercury; such ore used as the pigment vermilion.


selenite

selenite (countable and uncountable, plural selenites)

From Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) + -ite; the chemistry sense comes via the name of the element selenium.

I followed them to my study, and found lying on my writing-table still, with the selenite paper-weight upon it, the sheet of work I had left on the afternoon of the opening of the cylinder.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 295:

Glass windows replaced the old tiny windows of selenite (crystallized gypsum), and stovepipe replaced adobe chimneys.

1994, Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built, New York: Viking, →ISBN, page 146:

(mineralogy) A soft, glassy form of gypsum (chemical formula CaSO₄·2H₂O).


malachite

malachite (countable and uncountable, plural malachites)

From Middle French malachite, from Latin molochītis, from Ancient Greek μολόχη (molókhē, “[leaf of the ... ] mallow plant”).

der

2012 March 14, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2012-06-14, page 128:

(mineralogy) A bright green mineral, a basic copper carbonate, Cu₂CO₃(OH)₂; one of the principal ores of copper.


castor

Named from Greek mythology; see Castor and Pollux. The name pollux was given to another mineral with which it was always found.

(mineralogy) A variety of petalite found in Elba.


serpentine

From Middle English serpentine, from Old French serpentin, from Latin serpentīnus, from serpēns (“serpent”), equivalent to serpent + -ine.

(mathematics) Any of several related cubic curves; anguinea

It is reached by five-and-twenty steps of porphyry and serpentine.

2020, Hilary Mantel, The Mirror and the Light, Fourth Estate, page 394:

(mineralogy) Any of several green/brown minerals consisting of magnesium and iron silicates that have similar layered crystal structure, whose appearance somewhat resembles a snake's skin.

(geology) An outcrop or region with soil and rock dominated by these minerals.


urania

(mineralogy) Any of several impure mixtures of uranium oxides.


jasper

en-noun

jasper (countable and uncountable, plural jaspers)

From Middle English jasper, jaspre, from Old French jaspre, a variant of jaspe (modern French jaspe), from Latin iaspis, from Ancient Greek ἴασπις (íaspis).

(obsolete) Any bright-coloured kind of chalcedony apart from cornelian.

An opaque, impure variety of quartz, of red, yellow, and other dull colors, breaking conchoidally with a smooth surface.


jasper

(UK, West Country, Somerset, colloquial) A wasp.

And list'nin to some big out-a-town jasper / Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin' / Not a wholesome trottin' race, no!

1957, Meredith Willson, “Ya Got Trouble”, in The Music Man:

"I stood there through almost an hour of it before they called Rooster Cogburn to the stand. I had guessed wrong as to which one he was, picking out a younger and slighter man with a badge on his shirt. And I was surprised when an old one-eyed jasper that was built along the lines of Grover Cleveland went up and was sworn."

1968, Charles Portis, “True Grit”, in The Saturday Evening Post:

Standing on the corner like a just-got-in-town jasper

1975, “Nighthawk Postcards (From Easy Street)”, in Nighthawks at the Diner, performed by Tom Waits:

“That jasper,” sniggered Darby, “never pulled out his ‘dummy’ for nothing but pissing, I bet you!”

2006, Thomas Pynchon, “The Light over the Ranges”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 110:

(US, slang) A person, a guy, especially seen as naïve or simple.


muscovite

muscovite (countable and uncountable, plural muscovites)

In 1850 from Muscovy glass + -ite, from the province Muscovy in Russia. Named by James Dwight Dana.

Do you enjoy the amber glow seen through the isinglass window of a wood stove? […] Muscovite (colorless, white, or pale red or green) mica is also common[…]; it was named for Moskva (Moscow), where much of Europe's mica was mined. Isinglass, mentioned above, consists of thin, transparent sheets of muscovite.

2009, James S. Monroe, Reed Wicander, The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution, 5th edition, Belmont, Calif.: Brooks/Cole, →ISBN, page 76:

(mineralogy) A pale brown mineral of the mica group, being a basic potassium aluminosilicate with the chemical formula KAl₂(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH,F)₂; used as an electrical insulator etc.


lapis lazuli

lapis lazuli (countable and uncountable, plural lapides lazuli or lapis lazulis)

lapides lazuli (plural)
lapis lazulis (plural)

From Middle English lapis lazuli, from Medieval Latin lapis (“stone”) + lazulī, genitive singular of lazulum (“lapis lazuli, azure, the sky”), from Arabic لَازُوَرْد (lāzuward, “lapis lazuli, azure”), from Persian لاجورد (lâjvard). Compare azure, of the same origin.

der

He saw the amber silk curtains wave to and fro: the middle window was open; in it stood a pillar of lapis lazuli, which supported an alabaster figure, Canova's Dansatrice.

1832, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Heath's Book of Beauty, 1833, The Talisman, page 66:

(mineralogy) A deep-blue stone, used in making jewelry, and traditionally used to make the pigment ultramarine.


hornblende

en-noun

hornblende (countable and uncountable, plural hornblendes)

From German Hornblende, from Horn (“horn”) + Blende (see blende).

(mineralogy) A green to black amphibole mineral, of complex structure, formed in the late stages of cooling in igneous rock.


amphibole

From French amphibole, coined by René Just Haüy from Ancient Greek ἀμφίβολος (amphíbolos, “ambiguous”), in reference to its many forms.

uder

Remember when we could see the mountain's peak?
The sparkle off the amphibole.

(mineralogy) Any of a large group of structurally similar hydrated double silicate minerals, containing various combinations of sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminium.

amfíbol

Any of a large group of similar hydrated double silicate minerals


zincite

en-noun

zincite (usually uncountable, plural zincites)

(mineralogy) A yellow, orange or dark-red mineral form of zinc oxide, often also containing small amounts of manganese, with a chemical formula (Zn,Mn²⁺)O, an important ore of zinc.


griceite

Named after Joel D. Grice, a Canadian mineralogist.

(mineralogy) A mineral, lithium fluoride, that occurs as white aggregates in other minerals, such as fluorite.


fluorite

fluorite (countable and uncountable, plural fluorites)

Fluorite is the main natural resource of Thailand.

(mineralogy) A widely occurring mineral (calcium fluoride), of various colours, used as a flux in steelmaking, and in the manufacture of glass, enamels and hydrofluoric acid.


haidingerite

From Haidinger + -ite, named in honor of Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger.

(mineralogy) A mineral consisting of the arseniate of lime, its formula is Ca(AsO₃OH)·H₂O

Wilhelm Karl Ritter von Haidinger
haidingerite


cockle

From Middle English cokel, cokkel, kokkel, cocle, of uncertain origin. Perhaps a diminutive of Middle English cokke, cok (“cockle”), from Old English cocc (found in sǣcocc (“cockle”)) + -le; or perhaps from Old French coquille, from Vulgar Latin *cocchilia, from conchylia, from Ancient Greek κογχύλιον (konkhúlion), diminutive of κογχύλη (konkhúlē, “mussel”), of Pre-Greek substrate origin.

Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond
w:Rossiter W. Raymond

(mining, UK, Cornwall) The mineral black tourmaline or schorl.


montmorillonite

montmorillonite (countable and uncountable, plural montmorillonites)

(mineralogy) Any of a group of soft, clay-like silicate minerals having many industrial and technical uses.


zeolite

zeolite (countable and uncountable, plural zeolites)

From Swedish zeolit, and its source, New Latin zeolites, from Ancient Greek ζέω (zéō, “to boil, bubble”) + -lite.

der

What I liked best were the zeolites from the stacks which rise out of the sea off the coast near Jaci.

1962, WH Auden, Elizabeth Mayer, translating JW Goethe, Italian Journey, Penguin, published 1970, page 284:

ion exchange chromatography
ion exchange chromatography

(mineralogy) Any of several minerals, aluminosilicates of sodium, potassium, calcium or magnesium, that have a porous structure (originally, those which swelled and gave off water when heated); they are used in water softeners and in ion exchange chromatography.


alabaster

From Middle English alabastre, from Old French alabastre, from Latin alabaster (“box for perfumes or unguents”), from Ancient Greek ἀλάβαστρος (alábastros), from earlier ἀλάβαστος (alábastos, “vase without handles for storing perfumes”). This may further derive from Egyptian ꜥj-r-bꜣstjt (“vessel of the Egyptian goddess Bast”). The Latin suffix -aster is unrelated, but may have influenced the spelling of the borrowing from Ancient Greek (whence a direct loan could have been rendered as *alabastrus).

The crown is stored in an alabaster box with an onyx handle and a gold lock.

And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 14:3:

An enameled miniature of Christ is set in the center of a jeweled alabaster paten, the plate that holds the bread during Communion services.

1980, Colin Thubron, Seafarers: The Venetians, page 41:


taconite

en-noun

taconite (countable and uncountable, plural taconites)

From Taconic + -ite, after the Taconic Mountains. The name Taconic is from a Lenape language.

A low-grade flint-like iron ore containing 20-30% iron.


zunyite

Named after the Zuni mine, in Colorado; see -ite.

(mineralogy) A fluorosilicate mineral of alumina occurring in tetrahedral crystals, chemical formula Al₁₃Si₅O₂₀(OH,F)₁₈Cl.


indite

(mineralogy) An extremely rare indium-iron sulfide mineral.


lodestone

First attested from 1515, from Middle English lode (“guide”) + stone. From use as a guide tool by mariners. See also: lodestar.


quartzite

quartzite (countable and uncountable, plural quartzites)

Following the course of the river from New Ulm to Fort Ridgely, there are several exposures of reddish-brown “granite” or quartzites, which has been quarried in a few places, but I do not feel entirely sure of its connection with the rocks in the prairie or at the Ferry below.

1869, James Hall, “Notes upon the Geology of Some Portions of Minnesota, from St. Paul to the Western Part of the State”, in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, volume XIII, page 331:

The stone experimented upon being of the hardest and toughest kind the effect is not seen for several strokes ; but within two minutes, during which the writer watched the experiment, a steel chisel was completely blunted and rendered useless, and there was a hole made about two inches deep in the mass of quartzite placed to operate upon.

1870 November 14, Professor Ansted, “The Passage of the Mont Cenis”, in Sylvanus Urban (pseudonym of Edward Cave), editor, The Gentleman's Magazine, volume 229, page 656:

Granites of the usual type, compact reddish or greyish quartz-felsite or rhyolite alternate one with another. A mica-trap is also found. Evidently this is an extension of the last group of rocks. A specimen of epidotic quartzite proves that there are, at any rate, some indications of the metamorphic series.

1883, T. G. Bonney, “On a Collection of Rock Specimens from the Island of Socotra”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, volume 174, page 273:

(mineralogy) A metamorphic rock from sandstone, consisting of interlocking grains of quartz.


meerschaum

meerschaum (countable and uncountable, plural meerschaums)

/ˈmɪər.ʃɔːm/

Borrowed from German Meerschaum (literally “sea foam”).

bor

He gazed around until on the lid of a spinet he spotted a promising collection of bottles, gin, whiskey, vermouth and sherry, mixed with violin bows, a flute, a toppling pile of books, six volumes of Grove's Dictionary mingled with paperback thrillers, a guitar without any strings, a pair of binoculars, a meerschaum pipe and a jar half-full of wasps and apricot jam.

1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind:

(uncountable) A soft white mineral, chiefly used for smoking-pipes and cigar holders.


asbestiform

THESE MATERIALS INCLUDE A BROAD RANGE OF ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, SUCH AS HALOGENATED PESTICIDES AND POLYHALOGENATED BIPHENYLS, AND A VARIETY OF INORGANIC SUBSTANCES, INCLUDING ASBESTIFORMS AND HEAVY METALS, SUCH AS CADMIUM AND MERCURY.

1976, Great Lakes Water Quality Needs: A Report to the International Joint Commission, July 1976, page 50:

Vermont talc is of cosmetic grade which is low in free silica and asbestiforms.

1977, Scanning Electron Microscopy, page 616, column 2:

The amphibole asbestiforms present a more difficult problem.

1977, Ian M. Stewart, “Selected Thoughts on Asbestos Quantitation”, in I[rvin] M. Asher, P[hilip] P. McGrath, editors, Symposium on Electron Microscopy of Microfibers: Proceedings of the First FDA Office of Science Summer Symposium, section “SEM and TEM Analysis”, page 93, column 2:

(mineralogy) Any of asbestos-like forms of several minerals.


telluride

en-noun

telluride (countable and uncountable, plural tellurides)

(uncountable, mineralogy, in particular) Sylvanite, silver gold telluride.


cryolite

cryolite (countable and uncountable, plural cryolites)

sodium aluminium fluoride
sodium aluminium fluoride

(mineralogy) The mineral sodium aluminium fluoride (Na₃AlF₆).


uran-

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-uran-.wav


magnesite

magnesite (countable and uncountable, plural magnesites)

(mineralogy) A form of magnesium carbonate, MgCO₃, occurring as dolomite (with calcite) but rarely found in the pure state.

մագնեզիտ

a form of magnesium carbonate, O3, occurring as dolomite (with calcite) but rarely found in the pure state


gahnite

gahnite (countable and uncountable, plural gahnites)

Named after Swedish chemist Johan Gottlieb Gahn (1745-1818) in 1807.

(mineralogy) A rare mineral ZnAl₂O₄ in the spinel group.


chlorite

chlorite (countable and uncountable, plural chlorites)

/ˈklɔːˌɹʌɪt/

/ˈklɔːˌɹaɪt/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-chlorite.wav

From Ancient Greek χλωρῖτις (khlōrîtis).

They have been heated enough to impart a delicate blue-green hue, which is because of the abundance of the ‘low-grade’ metamorphic mineral, chlorite.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 177:

(mineralogy) A dark green mineral resembling serpentine, being a mixed silicate of magnesium, iron and aluminium.


tourmaline

tourmaline (countable and uncountable, plural tourmalines)

From French tourmaline, ultimately from Sinhalese තෝරමල්ලී (tōramallī, “carnelian”)

der

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

2012 March 14, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2012-06-14, page 128:

(mineralogy) A complex black or dark-coloured borosilicate mineral, compounded with various chemical elements and considered a semi-precious stone.


pyroxene

From French pyroxène, from pyro- + Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “stranger”).

By the pathside, there are occasional large boulders that shown black crystals the size of a fingernail; these are pyroxene minerals that had time to crystallise out deep within the chamber of liquid rock – or magma – beneath the volcano.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 10:

(mineralogy) Any of a group of crystalline minerals containing silicates of iron, magnesium and calcium.


pollucite

From Pollux + ite, named after Pollux, the twin of Castor, as it is often found associated with castorite (now petalite).

(mineralogy) A colorless transparent mineral of the zeolite family consisting of hydrous cesium aluminum silicate and occurring massive or crystallizing in cubes.


zaratite

Spanish zaratita, from Señor Zarate, 19th century Spaniard + Spanish -ita -ite

(mineralogy) a hydrous basic nickel carbonate occurring in emerald-green incrustations or compact masses


glimmer

en-noun

glimmer (countable and uncountable, plural glimmers)

From Middle English glimeren, glemeren (“to glimmer”), equivalent to glim (“to shine”) + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with German Low German glimmern (“to glimmer”), German glimmern (“to glimmer”), Danish glimre (“to glimmer”), Swedish glimra (“to glimmer”). Doublet of glimpse.


obsidian

en-noun

obsidian (usually uncountable, plural obsidians)

From Latin obsidianus; named after Obsidius, who was, according to Pliny, the Roman who discovered the stone in Aethiopia.

The Neolithic culture from 8000 to 6000 B.C., however, was a brilliant period of the revival of crafts, the transformation of gathering into gardening, the growth of a cross-cultural obsidian trade, and the rise of towns.

1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 130:

(mineralogy) A type of naturally occurring black glass produced by volcanoes.

lawaglas

a type of black glass produced by volcanoes


quartz-diorite

(mineralogy) Any form of diorite containing appreciable amounts of quartz.


anatase

anatase (countable and uncountable, plural anatases)

From French anatase, from Ancient Greek ἀνάτασις (anátasis, “extending, extension”), named for the length of its crystals.

der

(mineralogy) A blue or brown mineral, a form of titanium dioxide, used as a pigment.


kernite

From Kern + -ite, since it comes from Kern County, California.

A hydrated borate mineral, Na₂B₄O₆(OH)₂, originally discovered in the Mojave Desert.


kaolinite

en-noun

kaolinite (countable and uncountable, plural kaolinites)

From kaolin + -ite (see kaolin for more).

(mineralogy) A common hydrous aluminosilicate mineral found in sediments, soils and sedimentary rocks, Al₂Si₂O₅(OH)₄; one of the kaolin group of minerals.


salting

salting (countable and uncountable, plural saltings)

(UK, historical) The celebration of the Eton montem.


salt cellar

From salt + cellar, from 15th Century Middle English saler, from Middle French salier, from Latin salārius (“relating to salt”), from Latin sāl (“salt”). Modified based on originally unrelated English cellar.

(UK) Synonym of salt shaker (“a closed container with perforated lid for sprinkling salt”)


kyanite

kyanite (countable and uncountable, plural kyanites)

Ancient Greek κυανός (kuanós, “blue”) + -ite.

A blue neosilicate mineral, Al₂SiO₅, found in metamorphic rocks.


lawsonite

A metamorphic silicate mineral related to the epidotes; it is a sorosilicate, based on the dimeric anion Si₂O₇⁶⁻


epidote

epidote (countable and uncountable, plural epidotes)

A little higher is an outcrop of epidote schist with quartz, carbonate, and magnetite.

1915, George Curtis Martin, Bertrand Leroy Johnson, Ulysses Sherman Grant, “Bulletin 587: Geology and Mineral Resources of Kenai Peninsula, Alaska”, in United States Geological Survey, page 23:

1990, Andrew P. Barth, Chapter 3: Mid-crustal emplacement of Mesozoic plutons, San Gabriel Mountains, California, and implications for the geologic history of the San Gabriel terrane, J. Lawford Anderson (editor), The Nature and Origin of Cordilleran Magmatism, Memoir 174: The Nature and Origin of Cordilleran Magmatism, The Geological Society of America, page 36,
Available compositional data for magmatic epidotes (Naney, 1983; Zen and Hammarstrom, 1984; Barth, unpublished data) suggest no significant solid solution beyond the epidote-clinozoisite binary.

Epidote is found in greenstone belts and many metamorphic rocks such as gneiss and schist, and is hence fairly widespread.

2004, Bruce Cairncross, Field Guide to Rocks and Minerals of Southern Africa, page 96:

(mineralogy) Any of a class of mixed calcium iron aluminium sorosilicates found in metamorphic rocks.


limonite

limonite (countable and uncountable, plural limonites)

(mineralogy) Any of several natural hydrous iron oxides; often a mixture of goethite and hemite with clays and manganese oxide.

limoniet

mineral consisting of hydrous iron oxides


calcite

calcite (countable and uncountable, plural calcites)

(mineralogy) A very widely distributed crystalline form of calcium carbonate, CaCO₃, found as limestone, chalk and marble.


marcasite

marcasite (countable and uncountable, plural marcasites)

/ˈmɑːkəsʌɪt/

From Medieval Latin marchasita et al., from Arabic مَرْقَشِيتَا (marqašītā).

der

مَرْقَشِيتَا

Arabic مَرْقَشِيتَا (marqašītā)

(mineralogy) The orthorhombic form of iron disulfide, FeS₂, occurring as yellow crystals.


wolframite

en-noun

wolframite (countable and uncountable, plural wolframites)

From German Wolframit, from Wolfram, tungsten.

Coordinate term: scheelite

(mineralogy) A mineral that consists of a tungstate of iron and manganese; (Fe,Mn)WO₄; it is one of the principal ores for tungsten.


melilite

melilite (countable and uncountable, plural melilites)

Ancient Greek μέλι (méli, “honey”) + -lite.

(mineralogy) any mineral consisting of a solid solution of gehlenite (Ca₂Al₂SiO₇) and akermanite (Ca₂MgSi₂O₇)


melanterite

melanterite (countable and uncountable, plural melanterites)

(mineralogy) a widespread green, mostly fibrous mineral composed of hydrated ferrous sulphate


polybasite

polybasite (countable and uncountable, plural polybasites)

From poly- + base (as in "base metal") + -ite.

af

(mineralogy) A black ore consisting of silver, sulfur, and antimony, with some copper and arsenic.


plumbago

en-noun

plumbago (countable and uncountable, plural plumbagos or plumbagoes)

Borrowed from Latin plumbāgō (“type of lead ore”), from plumbum (“lead”).

(mineralogy, now chiefly historical) Graphite.


bloodstone

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-bloodstone.wav

From blood + stone, from the fact that the red inclusions in the stone resemble blood.

These following bodies do not draw: smaragd, achates, corneolus, pearl, jaspis, chalcedonius, alabaster, porphyry, coral, marble, touchstone, haematites, or bloodstone […]

1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC:

The magician wore a blood-stone ring […]

1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 148:

A green chalcedony that is sprinkled with red spots or veins of hematite.

heliotropi

green chalcedony sprinkled with red spots or veins of hematite


polyhalite

Shafts are now being sunk at Sirius Minerals' Woodsmith mine to extract polyhalite for use as an agricultural fertiliser, with much of the output exported.

2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival”, in Modern Railways, page 76:

(mineralogy) A mineral usually occurring in fibrous masses, of a brick-red color, being tinged with iron, and consisting chiefly of the sulphates of lime, magnesia, and soda.


pyrochlore

pyrochlore (countable and uncountable, plural pyrochlores)

In general, the hydroxamates are used for flotation of oxidic minerals (pyrochlore, cassiterite and ilmenite), rare-earth oxides and oxide copper minerals.

2007, Srdjan M. Bulatovic, Handbook of Flotation Reagents: Chemistry, Theory and Practice, →ISBN, page 13:

(mineralogy) A mineral whose composition is that of a mixed niobate mostly of sodium, calcium and cerium, (Na,Ca)₂Nb₂O₆(OH,F).


pyrolusite

pyrolusite (countable and uncountable, plural pyrolusites)

(mineralogy) A dark coloured mineral, consisting of manganese dioxide (MnO₂), that is an important ore of manganese.


pyromorphite

pyromorphite (usually uncountable, plural pyromorphites)

(mineralogy) A yellowish-green mineral, a mixed phosphate and chloride of lead with the chemical formula Pb₅(PO₄)₃Cl, that is sometimes mined as an ore.


monazite

From German Monazit, from Ancient Greek μονάζω (monázō, “be solitary”).

der

(mineralogy) any of a range of reddish-brown minerals that are mixed phosphates of the lighter rare earth elements lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium and yttrium


molybdenite

en-noun

molybdenite (countable and uncountable, plural molybdenites)

molybdenum disulfide
molybdenum disulfide

(mineralogy) A mineral, molybdenum disulfide MoS₂, that is the principal ore of molybdenum; it is structurally similar to graphite and has a similar look and feel.


pyrophyllite

(mineralogy) A soft, pale aluminosilicate mineral, somewhat resembling talc.


pyrrhotite

pyrrhotite (usually uncountable, plural pyrrhotites)

(mineralogy) A weakly magnetic ferrous sulfide mineral, FeS.


stibine

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-stibine.wav


natrolite

natrolite (countable and uncountable, plural natrolites)

(mineralogy) A fibrous zeolite mineral, being a sodium aluminosilicate, of the chemical formula Na₂Al₂Si₃O₁₀·2H₂O.


nickeline

nickeline (usually uncountable, plural nickelines)

(mineralogy) A mineral, a form of nickel arsenide, NiAs, having a metallic lustre and copper-red colour, that is a minor ore of nickel.


niccolite

niccolite (countable and uncountable, plural niccolites)


barytes

From Ancient Greek βαρύτης (barútēs, “heaviness”), from βαρύς (barús, “heavy”).


barite

en-noun

barite (countable and uncountable, plural barites)

From Ancient Greek βάρος (báros, “weight”), βαρύτης (barútēs, “weight”).

(mineralogy) A mineral, barium sulphate, with the chemical formula BaSO₄.


omphacite

omphacite (usually uncountable, plural omphacites)

From Ancient Greek ὄμφαξ (ómphax, “unripe fruit, especially grapes”) + -ite.

der

(mineralogy) Any of a range of green, monoclinic pyroxene minerals found in eclogites and similar rocks; they are solid solutions of jadeite and diopside.


jadeite

en-noun

jadeite (countable and uncountable, plural jadeites)

(mineralogy) A pyroxene mineral, a sodium aluminium silicate with the chemical formula Na(Al,Fe³⁺)Si₂O₆, found in metamorphic rocks.


diopside

diopside (countable and uncountable, plural diopsides)

From French diopside, from Ancient Greek δίοψις (díopsis, “transparency”) + -ide.

der

(mineralogy) A monoclinic pyroxene mineral, a magnesium calcium silicate with the chemical formula CaMgSi₂O₆, found in igneous and metamorphic rocks.


olivine

en-noun

olivine (countable and uncountable, plural olivines)

From olive + -in, later remodelled after -ine.

The olivine crystals in most basalts are imperfect, lacking clear crystal faces.

2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 51:

(mineralogy, geology) Any of a group of olive green magnesium-iron silicate minerals that crystallize in the orthorhombic system.

оливин

family of minerals forming orthorhombic crystals


orthorhombic pyroxene

orthorhombic pyroxene (plural orthorhombic pyroxenes)

(mineralogy) Any of a group of minerals having the general formula XYSi₂O₆ in which X is iron or magnesium and Y is iron or manganese.


tantalite

(mineralogy) A dark-brown mineral that is an ore of tantalum and niobium, of the chemical formula (Fe, Mn) Ta₂O₆.


pectolite

pectolite (countable and uncountable, plural pectolites)

(mineralogy) a gray-white mineral inosilicate hydroxide of calcium and sodium that crystallizes in the triclinic system, with the chemical formula NaCa₂Si₃O₈(OH).


inosilicate

any silicate having interlocking chains of silicate tetrahedra


lithiophilite

lithiophilite (usually uncountable, plural lithiophilites)

(mineralogy) A variety of triphylite that is a mixed phosphate of lithium and manganese.


lithiophorite

(mineralogy) A basic oxide of lithium, manganese and aluminium found in hydrothermal ore deposits and sedimentary manganese deposits, with the chemical formula (Al,Li)Mn⁴⁺O₂(OH)₂.


beryllonite

(mineralogy) A rare mineral, sodium beryllium phosphate, with the chemical formula NaBePO₄; found especially in Maine.


cuprite

cuprite (countable and uncountable, plural cuprites)

(mineralogy) A mineral composed of cuprous oxide and a minor ore of copper.


pentlandite

(mineralogy) A mixed iron and nickel sulfide mineral, with the chemical formula (Fe,Ni)₉S₈; the major ore of nickel.


accessory mineral

accessory mineral (plural accessory minerals)

(mineralogy) any mineral that is present in small amounts in a rock, but is not considered to be characteristic of the rock


perovskite

From Perovski + -ite. Named for Russian mineralogist L. A. Perovski (1792-1856) in 1839.

(mineralogy) A minor accessory mineral, CaTiO₃, occurring in basic rocks, as orthorhombic crystals.


petalite

(mineralogy) A rare pegmatitic mineral, a lithium aluminosilicate, with the chemical formula LiAlSi₄O₁₀; used in the manufacture of crystallized glass ceramics.


sodium alum

(mineralogy) A water-soluble mineral NaAl(SO₄)₂·12(H₂O); a form of alum in which potassium is replaced by sodium.


phonolite

From phono- + -lite, from the metallic sound when it is hit.

(mineralogy) a light-coloured rock of volcanic origin composed mostly of alkali feldspars


phlogopite

phlogopite (countable and uncountable, plural phlogopites)

From German Phlogopit, from Ancient Greek φλογωπός (phlogōpós, “fiery-looking”) + -ite.

uder

(mineralogy) A mica mineral with the chemical formula KMg₃AlSi₃O₁₀(F,OH)₂, a basic potassium magnesium aluminosilicate, used as an insulator

flogopiitti

a mica, the magnesium endmember of biotite


bentonite

en-noun

bentonite (countable and uncountable, plural bentonites)

From Benton + -ite, after the place where it was first mined: Fort Benton, Montana.

(mineralogy) Any of several impure clay minerals consisting mostly of montmorillonite.


pigeonite

pigeonite (countable and uncountable, plural pigeonites)

From pigeon + -ite, named from its type locality on Lake Superior's shores at Pigeon Point, Minnesota, United States.

(mineralogy) Any monoclinic pyroxene that is a mixed calcium, magnesium and ferrous silicate.


carbonado

carbonado (plural carbonados or carbonadoes)

carbonados (plural)
carbonadoes (plural)

Borrowed from Portuguese carbonado (“carbonized”), probably from carbono (“carbon”) (currently only attested later than carbonado) + -ado (suffix forming adjectives from nouns meaning ‘something or someone who has suffered the action’). Carbono is borrowed from French carbone (“carbon”), from Latin carbō (“coal; charcoal”); for further derivation, see etymology 1.

/ˌkɑːbəˈneɪdəʊ/

At present, equal attention is paid to irregular fragments of a blackish or greyish colour, occasionally of considerable size, also yielded by the washings of diamandiferous sand, which formerly passed unregarded. These fragments are now carefully colected, and have acquired some considerable value in commerce, where they are known under the name of carbonado or carbon. […] An examination of these numerous varieties has made it evident that between carbonado of a simply micro-crystalline texture, and the diamond regularly crystallised in diaphanous octahedrons, there exists an uninterrupted series of intermediate conditions.

1873 October, “Some New Facts Concerning the Diamond”, in William Crookes, editor, The Quarterly Journal of Science, and Annals of Mining, Metallurgy, Engineering, Industrial Arts, Manufactures, and Technology, volume III (New Series; volume X overall), London: Offices of the Quarterly Journal of Science, 3, Horse-shoe Court, Ludgate Hill; Paris: Friedrich Klincksieck; Leipzg: Alfons Dürr, →OCLC, page 439:

Brazil's carbonadoes are indispensable today for the speedy cutting of hard rubber, bakelite and fiber compounds. Their absolute precision is especially valuable in turning such instruments as high-power telescopes and microscope tubes.

1928 January, Orville H. Kneen, “Gems that Work for a Living: Black Diamonds, the Most Precious Stones on Earth, Put to Curious Industrial Uses”, in The Popular Science Monthly, volume 112, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Popular Science Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 133, column 1:

Carbonado, the granular variety of diamond, is a porous micro- or cryptocrystalline aggregate, composed of anhedral grains and crystallites of octahedral or, less commonly, cubic habit that range in size from 0.5 to 50 nm.

1974, Ye. V. Frantsesson, F. V. Kaminskiy, “Carbonado, a Diamond Variety of Nonkimberlitic Origin”, in Doklady: Earth Science Sections, Falls Church, Va.: American Geological Institute, →OCLC, page 117:

Carbonados are polycrystalline diamond aggregates of generally irregular shapes that have been observed in placer deposits and low-grade metamorphic rocks of mainly Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Ukraine, Venezuela, and the Central African Republic. […] Smith and Dawson (1985), consequently, suggested that carbonados could have been formed as a consequence of Precambrian impact events into carbon-bearing crustal rocks. All other traces of these impacts and the related impact structures apparently have been eroded, and only the carbonados had survived erosion and were then incorporated into sedimentary rocks.

2005, Wolf Uwe Reimold et al., “Economic Mineral Deposits in Impact Structures: A Review”, in Christian Koeberl, Herbert Henkel, editors, Impact Tectonics (Impact Studies), Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, →ISBN, →ISSN, section 3.2 (The Carbonado Conundrum), page 505:

(mineralogy) A dark, non-transparent, impure form of polycrystalline diamond (also containing graphite and amorphous carbon) used in drilling.


phosphorite

phosphorite (countable and uncountable, plural phosphorites)

(mineralogy) a sedimentary rock rich in phosphate minerals such as apatite


natron

From French natron, from Spanish natrón, from Arabic نَطْرُون (naṭrūn), from Ancient Greek νίτρον (nítron, “nitre”), ultimately from Egyptian nṯrj (“natron”): R9
Doublet of niter and trona.

Natron and salt are soluble by liquid, but not all liquid but only such as is cold. Hence water and any of its varieties melt them, but oil does not.

1931, Aristotle, translated by E.W. Webster, Meteorologica, Bk. IV, ch. 6:

You know the mysterious idols they were supposed to set up to worship in their chapters – were they really human heads treated with natron after the Ancient Egyptian pattern – idols of Persian or Syrian provenance?

1974, Lawrence Durrell, Monsieur, Faber & Faber, published 1992, page 242:

(mineralogy) A crystalline mixture of hydrous sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, with the chemical formula Na₂CO₃·10H₂O.


spinel

spinel (countable and uncountable, plural spinels)

French spinelle, perhaps from Latin spina (“a thorn, a prickle”), in allusion to its pointed crystals.

Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

(mineralogy) Any of several hard minerals of cubic symmetry that are mixed oxides of magnesium and aluminium and are used as gemstones of various colours.

لَعْل

any of several hard minerals of cubic symmetry that are mixed oxides of magnesium and aluminium


orthosilicate

(mineralogy) Any silicate mineral, such as garnet or olivine, in which the SiO₄ tetrahedra do not share oxygen atoms with each other.


proustite

proustite (usually uncountable, plural proustites)

Named after French chemist Joseph L. Proust (1754-1826) in 1832, + -ite.

(mineralogy) A mineral, Ag₃AsS₃, often found with pyrargyrite in silver veins.


prehnite

prehnite (countable and uncountable, plural prehnites)

Named after Dutch colonial governor of Cape of Good Hope Hendrik van Prehn in 1789, Dutch colonial governor. This was the first mineral to be named after a person.

named-after

(mineralogy) A mineral, a basic calcium, aluminium and iron aluminosilicate, which occurs in stalactitic aggregates or curved crystals, Ca₂Al₂Si₃O₁₀(OH)₂.


gummite

en-noun

gummite (countable and uncountable, plural gummites)

(mineralogy) A yellow, amorphous mineral, a mixture of oxides and silicates of uranium, formed by weathering of pitchblende.


phosphorrösslerite

phosphorrösslerite (usually uncountable, plural phosphorrösslerites)

(mineralogy) A transparent crystalline mineral, MgHPO₄·7H₂O.


basalt

basalt (countable and uncountable, plural basalts)

From Late Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian bḫn (“a hard stone”), b-x:n-O39

(mineralogy) A hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, which makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.


realgar

realgar (usually uncountable, plural realgars)

From Middle English realgar, from Medieval Latin realgar, resalgar, from Arabic رَهْج اَلْغَار (rahj al-ḡār, literally “cave dust”).

der

رَهْج اَلْغَار

(mineralogy) A mineral, arsenic sulfide (AsS), often associated with orpiment and stibnite in lead, silver and gold ores.


chrysoprase

From Ancient Greek χρυσός (khrusós, “gold”) and πράσινον (prásinon, “green”).

[…]or such pale green and uncertain as we see in sunset sky, and in the clefts of the glacier and the chrysoprase,[…]

1846, [John Ruskin], chapter 10, in Modern Painters […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, part III (Of Ideas of Beauty), section II (Of the Imaginative Faculty), § 7, page 79:

With shaken soul of light and shuddering blaze / Of leaping emerald and cold chrysoprase

(mineralogy) A variety of light-green translucent quartz.


chiastolite

en-noun

chiastolite (countable and uncountable, plural chiastolites)

From Ancient Greek χιαστός (khiastós, “arranged diagonally”) derived from χι (khi, “Greek letter X khi”) + -lite. So called from the resemblance of the crosscuts of its crystals to the Greek letter chi.

der

(mineralogy) An aluminosilicate mineral having carbon inclusions, a variety of andalusite.


apatite

en-noun

apatite (countable and uncountable, plural apatites)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-apatite.wav

From international scientific vocabulary, from German Apatit (“apatite”). Apatit was coined by the German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749–1817), as follows: Ancient Greek ᾰ̓πᾰ́τη (apátē, “deceit, fraud”) (as it is often mistaken for other minerals) + German -it (suffix forming nouns denoting minerals or rocks; cognate with English -ite); the German word was first used in a 1786 book. Regarding minerals that were named for being deceptive and thus confused with others, compare also fool's gold.

der

suffix forming nouns denoting minerals or rocks; cognate with English <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">-ite</i>

We had prepared, by precipitation methods, finely divided crystalline apatites that were similar in crystal size and x-ray diffraction profile to bone apatite.

1967, Duncan McConnell et al., “Infrared Absorption of Carbonate Apatite”, in Science, volume 155, number 3762 (New Series), Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 608:

(mineralogy) A calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition, sometimes used in the manufacture of fertilizer, as a gemstone, and (in powdered form) as a pigment, and also produced biologically in bones and teeth.

Abraham Gottlob Werner
international scientific vocabulary


minium

en-noun

minium (usually uncountable, plural miniums)

The compounds formed by the combination of the peroxide of lead with the protoxide have received the general name of miniums, and are known in commerce as red lead.

1861, Robert H. Lamborn, A rudimentary treatise on the Metallurgy of Silver and Lead, page 43:

[H]e was so overcome by suffering that his face, which had once been of oriental minium, now became like orpiment, and the hams of his lips turned into rancid lard.

2007, Giambattista Basile, translated by Nancy L. Canepa, Tale of Tales, Penguin, page 29:


carnelian

carnelian (countable and uncountable, plural carnelians)

From cornelian, the red form named carneolus under the influence of Latin carneus (“fleshy”) because of its color.

1952, You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, carnelian, topaz, and jasper, chrysolite, beryl, and onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and wrought in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared., Ezekiel 28:13 RSV:

(mineralogy) A hard, reddish brown chalcedony used in jewelry


rhodochrosite

rhodochrosite (countable and uncountable, plural rhodochrosites)

From Ancient Greek ῥοδόχρως (rhodókhrōs, “having rosy colour”), from ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”) + χρώς (khrṓs, “colour”).

uder

(mineralogy) A crystalline mineral composed mainly of manganese carbonate MnCO₃.


rhodonite

en-noun

rhodonite (countable and uncountable, plural rhodonites)

From Ancient Greek ῥόδον (rhódon, “rose”) + -ite.

2012 March 14, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 2012-06-14, page 128:

(mineralogy) A manganese inosilicate mineral with some substitution by iron and magnesium, of composition (Mn²⁺,Fe,Mg,Ca)SiO₃.

rhodium

etymologically related [via color] but not chemically related


romanechite

Named after its discovery locality: Romaneche, Saône-et-Loir, France.
Romanech- + -ite

(mineralogy) a mixed oxide mineral of manganese and barium which is an ore of manganese


sal ammoniac

From Middle English sal armenak, sal armoniac, salarmoniac, sal armoniacum, sal armoniak, sal armonyak, salarmonyak, salle armonyacke, salt armoniake, salt armonyac, from Latin sal ammōniacus, sal armōniacus (“salt of Amun, ammonium chloride”), named so because it was found near the temple of (Jupiter) Ammon in Egypt. Ammon derives from Ancient Greek Ἄμμων (Ámmōn), from Egyptian jmn. Doublet of salmiac.

(mineralogy) a rare mineral composed of ammonium chloride found around volcanic fumaroles and guano deposits.


nahcolite

nahcolite (countable and uncountable, plural nahcolites)

From its chemical formula NaHCO₃, named in 1929.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of sodium bicarbonate.


antarctictite

(mineralogy) An evaporite consisting of calcium chloride, CaCl.6H₂O, found in Victoria Land, Antarctica.


astrakanite

(mineralogy) An evaporite consisting of a mixed sodium and magnesium sulphate.


burkeite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium sulphate with the chemical formula Na₆(CO₃)(SO₄)₂, found at Searles Lake, California.


bassanite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of calcium sulfate, found at Vesuvius.


bischofite

bischofite (countable and uncountable, plural bischofites)

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of magnesium chloride with the chemical formula MgCl₂·6H₂O, found with potash deposits in Saxony.


carnalite

carnalite (countable and uncountable, plural carnalites)

(mineralogy) An evaporite consisting of a mixed potassium and magnesium chloride; sometimes used as a flux in steelmaking.


blödite

An eponym from Carl August Blöde (German chemist, 1773–1820), therefore Blöde + -ite (“rock, mineral”).

(mineralogy) An evaporite consisting of a mixed sodium and magnesium sulphate, with the chemical formula Na₂Mg(SO₄)₂·4H₂O.


aphthitalite

aphthitalite (usually uncountable, plural aphthitalites)

From Ancient Greek ἄφθιτος (áphthitos, “imperishable”) (though the intended meaning is “unalterable”) + ἅλς (háls, “salt”) + -ite.

der

(mineralogy) An evaporite consisting of mixed potassium and sodium sulphates; also found in the fumaroles of volcanos.


hexahydrite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of magnesium sulphate hexahydrate.


glaserite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of potassium sulphate.


loewite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed sodium and magnesium sulphate


thernadite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of sodium sulphate


leonite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed potassium and magnesium sulphate, with the chemical formula (K₂SO₄)(MgSO₄)


anhydrite

en-noun

anhydrite (countable and uncountable, plural anhydrites)

(mineralogy) An evaporite mineral made of anhydrous calcium sulfate.


thermonatrite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of sodium carbonate, with the chemical formula Na₂CO₃·H₂O.


sanderite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of hydrated magnesium sulphate, MgSO₄·H₂O.


leonhardite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a calcium aluminosilicate


shortite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed sodium and calcium carbonate, with the chemical formula Na₂Ca₂(CO₃)₃.


syngenite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed potassium and calcium sulphate


picromerite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed potassium and magnesium sulphate, with the chemical formula K₂Mg(SO₄)₂·6(H₂O).


langbeinite

langbeinite (countable and uncountable, plural langbeinites)

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed potassium and magnesium sulphate, with the chemical formula K₂Mg₂(SO₄)₃.


ikaite

Named after Ikka Fjord (formerly spelled Ika) a small fjord in southwestern Greenland.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of hydrated calcium carbonate with the chemical formula CaCO₃·6H₂O, found in cold marine waters.


rinneite

Named after German crystallographer and petrographer Freidrich Wilhelm Berthold Rinne (1863-1933) in 1909.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of mixed potassium, sodium and ferrous chloride, K₃NaFe²⁺Cl₆.


gaylussite

From Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac, French chemist, + -ite.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed sodium and calcium carbonate, with the chemical formula Na₂Ca(CO₃)₂·5H₂O.


pirssonite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed sodium and calcium carbonate


glauberite

Named after Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604-68), + -ite.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed sodium and calcium sulphate, with the chemical formula Na₂Ca(SO₄)₂.


epsomite

epsomite (countable and uncountable, plural epsomites)

From Epsom + -ite, named after the place Epsom in England in 1824.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of magnesium sulphate, also found in fumaroles, with the chemical formula MgSO₄·7H₂O.


tachyhydrite

tachyhydrite (countable and uncountable, plural tachyhydrites)

From Ancient Greek ταχύς (takhús, “quick”) + ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”).

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed calcium and magnesium chloride, with the chemical formula CaMg₂Cl₆·12H₂O.


schoenite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of a mixed potassium and magnesium sulphate, of the chemical formula K₂Mg(SO₄)₂·6(H₂O).


kieserite

kieserite (countable and uncountable, plural kieserites)

From Kieser + -ite. After the German D. G. Kieser (1779-1862) in 1860.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of hydrated magnesium sulphate


pentahydrite

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of magnesium sulphate pentahydrate, with the chemical formula MgSO₄·5H₂O.


kainite

kainite (countable and uncountable, plural kainites)

Borrowed from German Kainit; see there for more.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of magnesium sulphate and potassium chloride with the chemical formula MgSO₄·KCl·3H₂O, found in German salt mines.


sylvite

sylvite (countable and uncountable, plural sylvites)

After the surname of Dutch scientist Franciscus Sylvius + -ite.

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of potassium chloride KCl, also found in fumaroles.


mirabilite

From Latin mīrābilis (“miraculous”) + -ite. From the Latin term sal mirabilis (“wonderful salt”), which was used by German-Dutch alchemist Johann Rudolph Glauber (1604–1670) after he inadvertently synthesised the substance.

Mounds of mirabilite have been observed near the north-west side of White Island, (e.g., Debenham 1965). These mirabilites probably originated by infiltration of sea water into the ice shelf, followed by ablation of the surface until the brines were exposed to evaporation and freeze concentration with precipitation of mirabilite on the surface.

1975, M. K. Stewart, “Hydrogen and Oxygen Isotope Studies on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica”, in New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, Volume 18, Number 1, page 61:

Bedded deposits of mirabilite occur in coastal areas of East Antarctica, such as the Vestfold Hills and in the Skarvsnes area of Lutzow-Holm Bay, about 1500 km further west (Fig 1.3).

1987, I. B. Campbell, G. G. C. Claridge, Antarctica: Soils, Weathering Processes and Environment, Elsevier, page 253:

Mirabilite could have been and probably was scooped up off the cave floor and out of breakdown hollows, or brushed off ceilings and walls where it forms abundantly.

2002, George M. Crothers, Charles H. Faulkner, Jan F. Simek, Patty Jo Watson, P. Willey, “23: Woodland Cave Archaeology in Eastern North America”, in David G. Anderson, Robert C. Mainfort, editors, The Woodland Southeast, University of Alabama Press, page 512:

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of sodium sulfate, with the chemical formula Na₂SO₄·10H₂O.

芒硝

saline evaporite consisting of sodium sulfate


aragonite

aragonite (countable and uncountable, plural aragonites)

From Aragon + -ite, after the province in Spain, named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1790.

The basic chemical material of molluscan shells is calcium carbonate, which forms the outer layer of calcite, and the inner layer of aragonite, which is a heavier and harder substance although it has the same chemical composition.

1955, Rachel Carson, The Edge of the Sea, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Appendix, p. 268:

(mineralogy) An evaporite consisting of anhydrous calcium carbonate with the chemical formula CaCO₃ and occurring in pearls, shells and nacre; it is dimorphous with calcite.


dolomite

dolomite (countable and uncountable, plural dolomites)

From French dolomite, coined March 1792 by Nicolas de Saussure, named after French mineralogist and engineer Déodat de Dolomieu (1750–1801) who described the stone in 1791 by adding -ite, from place name Dolomieu, Isère.

named-after

(mineralogy) An evaporite consisting of a mixed calcium and magnesium carbonate, with the chemical formula CaMg(CO₃)₂; it also exists as the rock dolostone.


scapolite

en-noun

scapolite (countable and uncountable, plural scapolites)

Ancient Greek a staff, or Latin scapus a stem, stalk + -lite.

Any of several mixed sodium and calcium aluminosilicates which also contain chloride, carbonate and sulfate and are found in metamorphic rocks


carnallite

carnallite (countable and uncountable, plural carnallites)

Named after the mineralogist Von Carnall (1804-74), + -ite.

(mineralogy) An evaporite composed of a mixture of potassium chloride and magnesium chloride, with the chemical formula KMgCl₃·6H₂O.


scheelite

scheelite (countable and uncountable, plural scheelites)

Named after the Swedish chemist Karl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786).

Coordinate term: wolframite

(mineralogy) A mineral composed of calcium tungstate, with the chemical formula CaWO₄; it is one of the principal ores for tungsten.


trona

From Swedish trona or from Spanish trona, both derived from Arabic أَطْرُون (ʔaṭrūn), from نَطْرُون (naṭrūn), from Ancient Greek νίτρον (nítron), ultimately from Egyptian nṯrj: R9. Doublet of natron and niter.

der

Arabic أَطْرُون (ʔaṭrūn)

(mineralogy) An evaporite, consisting of mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, Na₃HCO₃CO₃·2H₂O.


sepiolite

en-noun

sepiolite (countable and uncountable, plural sepiolites)

From Latin sepia (“cuttlefish”) + -lite, from its resemblance to cuttlebone.

(mineralogy) A hydrated magnesium silicate, clay mineral used for carving into decorative articles and smoking pipes.

merenvaha

a clay mineral, the formal name of meerschaum


skutterudite

skutterudite (countable and uncountable, plural skutterudites)

From Skutterud + -ite, after the old spelling of the town of Skotterud in Norway.

(mineralogy) Any of a class of mixed cobalt and nickel arsenide and sulfide minerals.


sillimanite

sillimanite (countable and uncountable, plural sillimanites)

From Silliman + -ite. Named after American chemist and geologist Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864) in 1824.

(mineralogy) A fibrous neosilicate mineral, polymorphic with andalusite and kyanite, with the chemical formula Al₂SiO₅.


siderite

siderite (countable and uncountable, plural siderites)

From Ancient Greek σιδηρίτης (sidērítēs, “made of iron”), from Ancient Greek σίδηρος (sídēros, “iron”), or from Latin sideritis (“lodestone”), from Ancient Greek σιδηρῖτις (sidērîtis, “loadstone”). By surface analysis, sider- + -ite.

uder

(uncountable, mineralogy) a widespread brown mineral, FeCO₃, having the structure of calcite.


smithsonite

en-noun

smithsonite (countable and uncountable, plural smithsonites)

Named after James Smithson (1754-1829) in 1832.

(mineralogy) A mineral form of zinc carbonate, ZnCO₃, mined as an ore of zinc or as an ornamental stone.


soapstone

soapstone (countable and uncountable, plural soapstones)

From soap + stone; so called because the archetypal varieties of the stone resemble soap in multiple ways: their feel, appearance, and carvability. First use appears c. 1681, in the writings of Nehemiah Grew.

steatite

often synonymous; more information at soapstone § Terminology


aplome

From French aplome, from Ancient Greek ἁπλόος (haplóos, “single, simple”). Coined by French priest and mineralogist René Just Haüy in 1801.

coin

Aplome (properly haplome) has its dodecahedral faces striated parallel to the shorter diagonal, whence Haüy inferred that the fundamental form was the cube; and as this form is simpler than the dodecahedron, he gave it a name derived from ἁπλόος, simple. Color of the original aplome (of unknown locality) dark brown; also found yellowish green and brownish green at Schwarzenberg in Saxony, and on the Lena in Siberia.

1912, Edward Salisbury Dana, A Text-book of Mineralogy with an Extended Treatise on Crystallography and Physical Mineralogy, New York: John Wiley & Sons, E.2.(b), page 417:

(mineralogy) A brown or green variety of andradite containing manganese.


balas

From Old English bales, balais, from Old French balais, from Arabic بَلَخْش (balaḵš), from Persian بلخش (balaxš), a form of بدخش (badaxš, “balas”), related to بدخشان (badaxšân, “Badakhshan”), the region where they are found.

(archaic, now chiefly attributive) A type of rose-coloured spinel once thought to be a form of ruby.


sphalerite

From Ancient Greek σφαλερός (sphalerós, “unstable, unsteady, precarious”) + -ite; named in 1847.

suffix

The Monte Cristo and Philadelphia sphalerites have similar mean Pb concentrations (80 ppm) that are lower than the Lucky Dog sphalerites (119 ppm).

2009 February 6, Jamie J. Wilkinson et al., “Anomalously Metal-Rich Fluids Form Hydrothermal Ore Deposits”, in Science, volume 323, number 5915, →DOI, pages 764–767:

(mineralogy) A yellow, brown or black, sometimes red, green white or colorless mineral with cubic crystals, of a chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S, often containing also minor metals, such as cadmium, gallium, germanium and indium.