calamine

[ kal-uh-mahyn, -min ]

/ ˈkæl əˌmaɪn, -mɪn /

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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.

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Origin of calamine

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

Words nearby calamine

calamander, calamari, calamary, calamata olive, Calamian Islands, calamine, calamine brass, calamint, calamite, calamitous, calamity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use calamine in a sentence

Smithsonite is a carbonate much resembling, and often found with, calamine.
The A B C of Mining|Charles A. Bramble
Zinc occurs in nature most commonly as sulphide (blende); it also occurs as carbonate (calamine) and silicate (smithsonite).
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines.|Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer
In this condition it presents more surface to the action of zinc or calamine, and combines with it more readily.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
It is accompanied by zinc ore (calamine), especially in the upper parts of the mountain.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure

The calamine-and-zinc oxide lotion used in acute eczema is also often extremely valuable.
Essentials of Diseases of the Skin|Henry Weightman Stelwagon

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