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margarite

[mahr-guh-rahyt]
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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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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 -ite1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

seed, jewel, nacre, margarite

Examples from the Web for margarite

Historical Examples

  • Margarite did the honors in a state of dazed incomprehension.

    Just Patty

    Jean Webster

  • Margarite receives the letter and reads it with a contemptuous laugh.

  • Yet he believed that what was told pertained to men of Margarite, not to that cavalier himself.

    1492

    Mary Johnston

  • They gave us many little bags of margarite and pulverized galena, with which they rub the face.

  • In default of these, all the daughters together, Margarite and Charlotte Stiles, or their issue.

British Dictionary definitions for margarite

margarite

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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Word Origin

C19: via German from Greek margaron pearl
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

Word Origin and History for margarite

n.

"a pearl," late Old English, from Late Latin margarita (see Margaret). Figuratively, "that which is precious or excellent, a priceless quality or attribute;" also used as an epithet for Christ, Mary, etc., late 13c. Also margerie (mid-14c.).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper