Origin of mineral names.
Mineral/rock
|
Derived from or for
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Actinolite
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Greek actino = ray and lithos = stone in reference to its occurrence in bundles of radiating needles
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Agalmatolite
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Greek algalma = image and lithos = stone as it was carved by the Chinese
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Agate
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locality at the River Achates, now Drillo in Sicily, where it was originally found
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Aggregate
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Latin aggregatus = to lead to a flock, add to
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Akageneite
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locality at Akagame mine, Iwate Prefecture, Japan
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Alabandite
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locality at Alabanda in Caria, Asia Minor
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Alabaster
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ancient ointment jars called alabastra and perhaps Alabastron in Egypt; alternatively from Egyptian a-la-baste = ship of the Goddess Ebaste = Bubaste
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Albite
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Latin albus = white, for its color
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Alexandrite
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Czar Alexander II (1818-1881) of Russia
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Allanite
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Thomas Allan (1777-1833), Scottish mineralogist and first observer
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Almandine (garnet)
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Alabanda, Asia Minor, where garnets were cut and polished
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Aluminum
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Latin alumen = alum, original name for natural aluminum sulfate
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Alunite
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Latin alumen = alum (see above) and French alun = alum
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Amazonite
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locality at Amazon River, South America
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Amber
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French ambre from Arabic anbar = ambergris (now obsolete)
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Amblygonite
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Greek amblys = dull, obtuse and gonia = angle, in reference to cleavage angle
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Amethyst
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Latin amethystus and Greek amethystos = not drunken as the stone and plant was thought to orevent intoxication
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Amosite
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acronym of Asbestos Mines of South Africa
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Analcime
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Greek analkis = without strength due to its weak electrical properties when heated or rubbed
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Anatase
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Greek anatasis = extension because of the greater length of the common pyramid as compared with other tetragonal minerals
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Andradite (garnet)
|
J.B.d'Andrada e Silva (1763-1838), Brazilian mineralogist and first observer
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Anhydrite
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Greek anhydros = dry or without water
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Anorthite
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Greek for not straight, because of its triclinic symmetry
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Antimony
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Latin from Greek anti = against plus monos = a metal seldom found alone
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Andalusite
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locality at Andalusia, Spain
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Anthophyllite
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neo-Latin anthophyllum = clove for its brown color, Greek lithos = stone
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Apatite
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Greek apate = deceit since it was often mistaken for other minerals
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Aphthitalite
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Greek aphthitos = unchangeable or indestructible, alis = salt, and lithos = stone since it is very stable in air
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Aquamarine
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Latin aqua marina = seawater alluding to its pale bluish-green color
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Aragonite
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locality at Aragon, Spain, where it was first identified
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Arcanite
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Medieval Latin alchemical name, Arcanum duplicatum = double secret
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Asbestos
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Latin and Greek asbestos = inextinguishable alluding to its early uses as a wick
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Ascherite
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a.k.a Szaibelyle
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Atacamite
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locality at Atacama Desert, Chile
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Attapulgite
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locality at Attapulgus, Georgia, USA
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Axinite
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Greek axine = ax in reference to its wedge-shaped crystals
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Azoproit
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Russian title for the International Association for the Study of Deep Zones of the Earth's Crust (AZOPRO) since it was found during the preparation of a guidebook for the Association's meeting in Baikal in 1969
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Baddeleyite
|
Joseph Baddeley who brought the original specimens from Sri Lanka
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Ball clay
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from the tradition of rolling the clay to the cart and thus forming a "ball" weighing 13-22 kg (30-50 lb) with a diameter of about 25 cm (10 inches)
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Barite
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Greek barys = heavy or dense
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Barylite
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Greek barys = heavy or dense, lithos = stone
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Bassanite
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locality at Basset group of mines, Redruth, Cornwall, England
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Bastnaesite
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locality at Bastnäs, Vastmanland, Sweden
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Bauxite
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locality at Les Baux, near Arles, France where it was discovered by P. Berthierin
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Beidellite
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locality at Beidell, Colorado
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Bementite
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Clarence Sweet Bement (1843-1923), American machine tool manufacturer from Philadelphia; collector of coins, books, and minerals
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Benstonite
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for O.J. Benston (1901- ), American ore dressing metallurgist, National Lead Company, Malvern, AR, who provided specimens for initial study
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Bentonite
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for the Benton Shale named for Fort Benton, Montana, United States (originally named Taylorite for Taylor Ranch, the site of the first mine near Rock River, Wyoming, which opened in 1888)
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Bertrandite
|
Marcel Alexandre Bertrand (1847-1907), French mineralogist
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Beryl
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Greek beryllos of uncertain etymology applied to beryl and green gems
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Beryllium
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beryl (see above), the mineral from which it was isolated
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Bikitaite
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locality at Bikita, Zimbabwe
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Biotite
|
Jean Baptiste Biot (1774-1862), French physicist who studied its optical aspects
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Birnessite
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locality at Birness, Scotland
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Bischofite
|
Gustav Bischof (1792-1870), German chemist and geologist
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Bixbyite
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Maynard Bixby of Salt Lake City, UT, who compiled a catalog of Utah minerals
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Blanc fixe
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French blanc = white and fixe = settled referring to the barium sulfate precipitate
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Bloedite
|
Carl August Bloede (1773-1820), German chemist
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Boehmite
|
Johannes Böhm (1857-1938), German geologist and first observer
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Boracite
|
derived from borax (see below). A.k.a.
|
Borax
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Persian burah and Arabic buraq, both old names for the mineral. A.k.a. tincal.
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Bradleyite
|
Wilmot Hyde Bradley (b. 1899), American geologist, USGS
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Brannerite
|
John Casper Branner (1850-1922), American geologist
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Braunite
|
Kammerath Braun, of Gotha, Germany
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Brazilianite
|
Brazil, where the mineral was first found
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Bromine
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Greek bromos = stench in reference to its characteristic odor
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Bromargyrite
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Greek bromos = stench and argyros = silver alluding to to composition
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Brookite
|
Henry James Brooke (1771-1857), English mineralogist
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Brucite
|
Archibald Bruce (1777-1818), American mineralogist and first observer
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Brüggenite
|
Juan Brüggen (1887-1953), Chilean geologist
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Burkeite
|
William Edmund Burke (1980-), American chemical engineer
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Cahnite
|
Lazard Cahn (1865-1940), American mineral collector who first recognized the mineral in Franklin, New Jersey.
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Cairngorm
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locality at Cairngorm, southwest of Banff, Scotland
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Calcite
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Latin calx, calcis = lime; this is the same origin for chalk and limestone
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Carnallite
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Rudolph von Carnall (1804-1874), Prussian mining engineer, Greek lithos = stone
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Celestite
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Latin caelestis = heavenly for its faint blue color
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Cement
|
Old French ciment from Latin caementum = chip of stone used to fill up in building a wall
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Cerite/Cerium
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after Ceris, an asteroid discovered in 1803
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Chabazite (zeolite)
|
Greek chabazios or chalazios, an ancient name of a stone celebrated in a poem ascribed to Orpheus
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Chalcedony
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from Chalcedon or Calchedon, an ancient maritime city of Bithynia on the Sea of Marmara in modern Turkey
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Chalcophanite
|
Greek chalcos = copper and to appear refering to the change of color on ignition
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Chalcopyrite
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Greek chalcos = copper and its similarity with pyrite.
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Chaistolite (variety of andalusite)
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Greek chiastos = marked with a chi (x) and lithos = stone alluding to the cross exhibited in transverse sections
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China clay
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commercial term for kaolin which was named for Kau-ling in China
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Chiolite
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Greek = snow alluding to its appearance and similarity to cryolite (ice)
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Chlorite
|
Greek chloros = light green in reference to its color
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Chromite
|
Greek chroma = a color for the brilliant hues of its compounds
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Chrysoberyl
|
Greek chrysos = golden or yellow plus beryllos = beryl
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Chrysolite
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Greek chrysos = golden or yellow plus lithos = stone
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Chrysoprase
|
Greek chrysos = golden or yellow plus prason = leek alluding to green color
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Chrysotile
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Greek chrysotos = guilded in reference to its color and nature
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Citrine
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Latin citrus or French citron = lemon in reference to its yellow color
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Clinoenstatite
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Greek klinein = to bend or slope (monoclinic diomorph) of enstates = an adversary because of its refractory nature
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Clinoptilolite
|
Greek klinein = to bend or slope, monoclinic Greek for wing or down alluding to its light nature, and lithos = stone
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Colemanite
|
William Tell Coleman (1824-1893), a borate developer in California
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Cordierite
|
Pierre Louis A. Cordier (1777-1861), French mining engineer & geologist
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Coronadite
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for Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (ca. 1500-1554), Spanish explorer of SW America
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Corundum
|
Hindi kurund, or the Tamil kurundam, describing a native stone of India
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Crandallite
|
Milan L. Crandell Jr., American engineer, Knight Syndicate, Provo, Utah and Greek lithos = stone
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Cristobalite
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Cerro San Cristóbal near Pachuca, Mexico and Greek lithos = stone
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Crocidolite
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Greek krokis or krokidos = the nap on cloth and lithos = stone
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Cryolite
|
Greek kryos = cold, frost and lithos = stone for its icy appearance
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Cryptomelane
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Greek kryptos = hidden, secret and melas = black in reference to the difficulty of identifying it as a species and its color
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Danburite
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locality at Danbury, Connecticut
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D' Ansite
|
Jean D' Ans (1881- ), German chemist, professor, Berlin
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Darapskite
|
for Ludwig Darapsky (1857-?), mineralogist and chemist from Santiago, Chile
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Datolite
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Greek = to divide due to granular character of some varieties
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Dawsonite
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John William Dawson (1820-1899), Canadian geologist, principal of McGill University, Montreal, Canada
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Diamond
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Latin adamas = unconquerable or invincible; first used in Manilius (AD 16)
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Diaspore
|
Greek dia = through and speirein = to scatter in reference to its characteristic decrepitation on heating
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Dickite
|
Allan Brugh Dick (1833-1926), Scottish metallurgical chemist
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Diatomite
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Latin from Greek dia = through and tome = cutting in reference to the two generally symmetrical valves of the single-cell diatom
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Dietzeite
|
August Dietze (?-1893?), who first described the mineral
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Diopside
|
Greek diopsis = to view through since it is usually transparent
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Dolomite
|
Deodat Guy Silvain Tancrède Gratet de Dolomieu, French geologist
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Dumortierite
|
Eugène Dumortier (1802-1873), French paleontologist
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Dunite
|
named for its type locality at Dun Mountain, Nelson, New Zealand
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Dysprosium
|
Greek dysprositos = hard to get at in reference to the difficulty of separation
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Embolite
|
Greek embole = insert and lithos = stone since it contains both the chloride and bromide of silver
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Emerald
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Latin smaragdus and Greek smaragdos = emerald, probably of Semitic origin; ancient name applied to a variety of green minerals
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Emery
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French emeri, Italian smeriglio, and Greek smiris or smeris; akin to the Greek myron = urgent
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Epsomite
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locality at Epsom, a town near London, England
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Erionite (zeolite)
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Greek erion = wool alluding to its white wool-like appearance
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Euclase
|
Greek eu = good, well and klasis = a breaking due to its easy cleavage
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Eucryplite
|
Greek eu = good, and concealed due to its mode of occurrence embedded in albite
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Eudialyte
|
Greek eu = good, well and dialytos = capable of dissolution
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Eudidymite
|
Greek eu = good, well and twin, due to the twinned crystal
|
Eugsterite
|
N.A.
|
(Fritzshe's salt)
|
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Europium
|
Continent of Europe named for Europa, daughter of a king of Phoenicia
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Euxenite
|
Greek for friendly to strangers or hospitable referring to the rare-earth elements it contains
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Faujasite (zeolite)
|
Barthélemy Faujas de Saint Fond (1741-1819), French geologist
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Fayalite
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locality at Fayal Island in the Azores and Greek lithos = stone
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Feitknechtite
|
for Walter Feitknecht (1899- ), University of Bern, who first synthesized the compound
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Feldspar
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Swedish feldt or fält = field and spat = spar, for the spar in the tilled fields overlying granite
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