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kimberlite

[kim-ber-lahyt]
noun
  1. Petrology. a variety of micaceous peridotite, low in silica content and high in magnesium content, in which diamonds are formed.
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Origin of kimberlite

1885–90; named after Kimberley, South Africa; see -ite1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for kimberlite

Historical Examples

  • The diamonds at Kimberley are found in a blue earth, technically known as kimberlite and commonly called "blue ground."

    An African Adventure

    Isaac F. Marcosson

  • "We placed the instruments without difficulty," Balgos began—and Connel's eye caught sight of the kimberlite samples on the table.

    The Flaming Mountain

    Harold Leland Goodwin

British Dictionary definitions for kimberlite

kimberlite

noun
  1. an intrusive igneous rock generated at great depth in the earth's mantle and consisting largely of olivine and phlogopite. It often contains diamonds
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Word Origin

C19: from Kimberley + -ite 1
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
kimberlite in Science

kimberlite

[kĭm′bər-līt′]
  1. A type of peridotite consisting of a fine-grained matrix of calcite and olivine and containing phenocrysts of olivine, garnet, and sometimes diamonds. Kimberlites are found in long, vertical volcanic pipes, especially in South Africa.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.