margarite

American  

[mahr-guh-rahyt] / ˈmɑr gəˌraɪt /

noun

1. Mineralogy.

   1. a gray, pink, or yellow mica, occurring in brittle monoclinic crystals.

   2. an aggregate of small, rudimentary crystals resembling minute globules in a row: found in glassy volcanic rocks.

2. Obsolete. a pearl.

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margarite British  

/ ˈmɑːɡəˌraɪt /

noun

1. a pink pearly micaceous mineral consisting of hydrated calcium aluminium silicate. Formula: CaAl 4 Si 2 O 10 (OH) 2

2. an aggregate of minute beadlike masses occurring in some glassy igneous rocks

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Etymology

Origin of margarite

before 1000; Middle English, Old English: pearl < Latin margarīta < Greek margarī́tēs, perhaps < Iranian (compare Pahlavi marvārīt pearl), with final element conformed to Greek -ītēs -ite ¹

Example Sentences

In the preface of his sermons on the lives of Saints, Ælfric states that he intends not to translate any more, "ne forte despectui habeantur margarite Christi."

From A Literary History of the English People From the Origins to the Renaissance by Jusserand, Jean Jules

I turned around to leave, but, dropping my precious box of margarite, I stooped to pick it up.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 61, November, 1862 by Various

It was a pretty casket, made of the margarite of the sea.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 10, No. 61, November, 1862 by Various

It forms white pearly scales, and was at first known as pearl-mica and afterwards as margarite, from μαργαρίτης, a pearl.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various

From a chemical analysis of a sample it has been calculated that the emery contained 52.4% of corundum, 32.1 of magnetite, 11.5 of tourmaline, 2 of muscovite and 2 of margarite.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 "Electrostatics" to "Engis" by Various