calamine

[ kal-uh-mahyn, -min ]

/ ˈkæl əˌmaɪn, -mɪn /

noun

a pink, water-insoluble powder consisting of zinc oxide and about 0.5 percent ferric oxide, used in ointments, lotions, or the like, for the treatment of inflammatory conditions of the skin.

Mineralogy. hemimorphite.

Chiefly British. smithsonite.

Nearby words

Origin of calamine

1595–1605; < Medieval Latin calamīna, unexplained alteration of Latin cadmia cadmium; see -ine¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for calamine

The systematic distillation of zinc from calamine was not discovered in Europe until the 18th Century.
De Re Metallica|Georgius Agricola
When it was afterwards remarked that calamine gave to copper a yellow colour, the same name was conferred on it also.
A History of Inventions, Discoveries, and Origins, Volume II (of 2)|Johann Beckman
Hemimorphite occurs with other ores of zinc (calamine and blende), forming veins and beds in sedimentary limestones.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3|Various
Smithsonite is a carbonate much resembling, and often found with, calamine.
The A B C of Mining|Charles A. Bramble

Calamine, kal′a-mīn, n. an ore consisting essentially of carbonate of zinc.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various

British Dictionary definitions for calamine

calamine

/ (ˈkæləˌmaɪn) /

noun

a pink powder consisting of zinc oxide and ferric oxide, (iron(III) oxide), used medicinally in the form of soothing lotions or ointments

US another name for smithsonite, hemimorphite

Word Origin for calamine

C17: from Old French, from Medieval Latin calamīna, from Latin cadmīa; see cadmium

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for calamine

calamine

zinc carbonate; zinc silicate, 1590s, from French calamine, from Old French calemine, chalemine (13c.), from Medieval Latin calamina, corrupted by alchemists from Latin cadmia "zinc ore," from Greek kadmeia (see cadmium). Or possibly the Medieval Latin word is from Latin calamus "reed," in reference to the mineral's shape.

Medicine definitions for calamine

calamine

[ kăl′ə-mīn′, -mĭn ]

n.

A pink, odorless, tasteless powder of zinc oxide with a small amount of ferric oxide, dissolved in mineral oils and used in skin lotions.