fluorite

American

[floor-ahyt, flawr-, flohr-] / ˈflʊər aɪt, ˈflɔr-, ˈfloʊr- /

noun

a common mineral, calcium fluoride, CaF 2 , occurring in green, blue, purple, yellow, or colorless crystals, usually in cubes: the principal source of fluorene, used also as a flux in metallurgy and for ornament.

fluorite British

/ ˈflʊəraɪt /

noun

Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): fluorspar. fluor. a white or colourless mineral sometimes fluorescent and often tinted by impurities, found in veins and as deposits from hot gases. It is used in the manufacture of glass, enamel, and jewellery, and is the chief ore of fluorine. Composition: calcium fluoride. Formula: CaF 2 . Crystal structure: cubic

"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

fluorite Scientific

/ flr′īt′ /

A transparent to translucent mineral occurring in many colors, especially yellow and purple, and usually in cube-shaped crystals with octahedral cleavage. It is found in sedimentary rocks and in ore deposits within igneous rocks. It is often fluorescent in ultraviolet light. Chemical formula: CaF ₂ .

Etymology

Origin of fluorite

From Italian, dating back to 1865–70; see origin at fluor-, -ite ¹

Vocabulary lists containing fluorite

Earth Science - Middle School

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Earth Science - High School

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Rocks and Minerals - Middle School and High School

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Two hunks of polished green fluorite, a mineral popular in the world of healing crystals, sit on chained steel trolleys.

From New York Times • Oct. 9, 2019

Because fluoride ion is a weak base, its solubility is also affected by solution pH, and so geologic or other processes that change groundwater pH will also affect the precipitation of fluorite.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

His eyes are bloodstones, those green gems sprinkled with red jasper, less shiny than the fluorite crystals embedded in our children’s faces, but no less spectacular.

From Salon • Feb. 1, 2019

Earlier, it had been the music from James Bond as he mixed fluorite, gypsum and talcum.

From The Guardian • Jul. 8, 2011

I decided that piece of fluorite would look nice, would even look right, somehow, hanging above the fireplace in the room I thought of as the library.

From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023