bauxite

American  

[bawk-sahyt, boh-zahyt] / ˈbɔk saɪt, ˈboʊ zaɪt /

noun

1. a rock consisting of aluminum oxides and hydroxides with various impurities: the principal ore of aluminum.

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bauxite British  

/ ˈbɔːksaɪt /

noun

1. a white, red, yellow, or brown amorphous claylike substance comprising aluminium oxides and hydroxides, often with such impurities as iron oxides. It is the chief ore of aluminium. General formula: Al 2 O 3 . n H 2 O

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bauxite Scientific  

/ bôk′sīt′ /

1. A soft, whitish to reddish-brown rock consisting mainly of hydrous aluminum oxides and aluminum hydroxides along with silica, silt, iron hydroxides, and clay minerals. Bauxite forms from the breakdown of clays and is a major source of aluminum.

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Other Word Forms

• bauxitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of bauxite

1860–65; named after Les Baux, near Arles in S France; -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The Middle East accounts for about 8%-9% of global aluminum output, but produces only around 3% of global alumina and around 1% of bauxite, leaving smelters highly dependent on seaborne imports, according to market watchers.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 19, 2026

About four to five tons of bauxite ore is required to produce two tons of alumina, and in turn it takes about two tons of alumina to yield one ton of aluminum.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

The country is rich in minerals, including bauxite, iron ore, diamonds, gold and uranium, yet its people remain among the poorest in West Africa.

From BBC • Jan. 9, 2026

It is a major global supplier of bauxite, a type of rock that is rich in aluminium.

From Barron's • Jan. 5, 2026

He has skills developed operating heavy machinery, laboring over a stew of molten bauxite at Kaiser Aluminum, once one of the best jobs in Spokane, Washington, a city of 200,000.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times