chromite

American  

[kroh-mahyt] / ˈkroʊ maɪt /

noun

1. Chemistry. a salt of chromium in the bivalent state.

2. Mineralogy. a cubic mineral, ferrous chromate, Fe 3 Cr 2 O 3 , usually with much of the ferrous iron and aluminum replaced by magnesium, and some of the chromium by ferric iron: the principal ore of chromium.

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chromite British  

/ ˈkrəʊmaɪt /

noun

1. a brownish-black mineral consisting of a ferrous chromic oxide in cubic crystalline form, occurring principally in basic igneous rocks: the only commercial source of chromium and its compounds. Formula: FeCr 2 O 4

2. a salt of chromous acid

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Etymology

Origin of chromite

1830–40; chrom(ium) or chrom(ate) + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

The Philippines has sources of nickel, copper, chromite and cobalt that will be both used by American companies operating there and exported back to the U.S. for manufacturing, Helberg said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

They wanted something more difficult to find than fossilized meteorites: micrometeorites, which, like their larger siblings, carry the mineral chromite.

From Scientific American • Sep. 19, 2019

The chromite occurs in layers, which resemble sedimentary layers, except this occurred within a crystallizing magma chamber.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Mr Campbell is accused of seeking to arrange the export of the yellowcake from Sierra Leone to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, packed in drums and disguised as the mineral chromite.

From BBC • Aug. 24, 2013

The color of the mineral itself is a glistening grayish lead color, resembling chromite somewhat in appearance, but the crystals of an entirely different shape, being highly modified or indistinct rhombic prisms.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 by Various