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

Derived Forms

• bauxitic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of bauxite

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

Example Sentences

The bauxite miss is due to significant weather disruptions, it adds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

But it is also rich in gold and diamonds as well as bauxite and coltan, a mineral that contains a metal used in mobile phones, laptops and other electronics.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

This was a leader who rolled up his sleeves and stacked sandbags alongside firemen and volunteers, when toxic red sludge from a bauxite mine engulfed a Hungarian valley and threatened the Danube shore in 2010.

From BBC • Apr. 5, 2026

And although Lloyds operates mines in India and elsewhere, and has been leasing out mining equipment in Congo since 2018, the company’s experience lies mainly in iron ore, bauxite and coal in Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 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