augite

American  

[aw-jahyt] / ˈɔ dʒaɪt /

noun

1. a silicate mineral, chiefly of calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum: a dark-green to black variety of monoclinic pyroxene, characteristic of basic rocks.

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augite British  

/ ɔːˈɡɪtɪk, ˈɔːɡaɪt /

noun

1. a black or greenish-black mineral of the pyroxene group, found in igneous rocks. Composition: calcium magnesium iron aluminium silicate. General formula: (Ca,Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al) 2 O 6 . Crystal structure: monoclinic

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augite Scientific  

/ ô′jīt′ /

1. A glassy, dark-green to black variety of pyroxene. Chemical formula: (Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al) ₂ O ₆ .

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Other Word Forms

• augitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of augite

1780–90; < Latin augītis a kind of precious stone < Greek, equivalent to aug ( ḗ ) sunlight + -ītis, feminine of -ītēs -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Like obsidian, in fact, their edges are sharp but the shards have an almost twirly shape and lack the crystalline structure of black-colored minerals like augite or tourmaline.

From Salon • Mar. 4, 2025

Among other minerals found in them are biotite and chlorite, tourmaline, epidote, apatite, garnet, hornblende and augite, sphene, pyrites.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 5 "Greek Law" to "Ground-Squirrel" by Various

Thus magnetite, apatite and picotite, with olivine, may be enclosed in augite, hornblende, and hypersthene, sometimes with a later growth of biotite, while the felspars occupy the interspaces between the clusters of ferromagnesian minerals.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various

In the less complete stages of alteration, ophitic structure may persist, and the original augite of the rock may not have been entirely replaced by 689 hornblende.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6 "English Language" to "Epsom Salts" by Various

It has, generally, a flesh-red colour, and contains some specks of augite, but little or no mica.

From Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea by Franklin, John