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.

---

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

---

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

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

Johnson, Webster, and Halliwell give margarite as an English word.

From Notes and Queries, Number 179, April 2, 1853. A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc by Bell, George

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

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

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