leucite

American  

[loo-sahyt] / ˈlu saɪt /

noun

1. a whitish or grayish mineral, potassium aluminum silicate, KAlSi 2 O 6 , found in alkali volcanic rocks.

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leucite British  

/ ˈluːsaɪt /

noun

1. a grey or white mineral consisting of potassium aluminium silicate: a source of potash for fertilizers and of aluminium. Formula: KAlSi 2 O 6

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Other Word Forms

• pseudoleucite
  noun
• leucitic
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of leucite

From the German word Leukit, dating back to 1790–1800. See leuco-, -ite ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

leucite

There are great beds of it in the green sands of New Jersey, the Cartersville slates of Georgia, and the leucite rocks of Wyoming.

From Time Magazine Archive

The following minerals, according to Griffin, produce beads with soda, but do not fuse when heated alone: quartz, agalmatolyte, dioptase, hisingerite, sideroschilosite, leucite, rutile, pyrophyllite, wolckonskoite.

From A System of Instruction in the Practical Use of the Blowpipe Being A Graduated Course Of Analysis For The Use Of Students And All Those Engaged In The Examination Of Metallic Combinations by Anonymous

Vesuvian lava, glass paste with numerous crystals of leucite; others of olivine, hornblende, and sanidine, porphyritically developed; small grains of magnetite.

From Volcanoes: Past and Present by Edward Hull

The flows from Kibo include nepheline and leucite basanite lavas rich in soda felspars.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" by Various

In the lava of Vesuvius leucite is an essential, and perhaps the most abundant mineral.

From Volcanoes: Past and Present by Edward Hull