melanite

American  

[mel-uh-nahyt] / ˈmɛl əˌnaɪt /

noun

Mineralogy.

1. a deep black variety of andradite garnet.

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melanite British  

/ ˈmɛləˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a black variety of andradite garnet

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Other Word Forms

• melanitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of melanite

First recorded in 1800–10; melan- + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

Everything was smothered with a yellowish hue from the deadly lyddite and melanite.

From Project Gutenberg

To andradite may be referred melanite, a black garnet well known from the volcanic tuffs near Rome, used occasionally in the 18th century for mourning jewelry.

From Project Gutenberg

The abundance of melanite is very unusual in igneous rocks, though some syenites, leucitophyres, and aegirine-felsites resemble borolanite in this respect.

From Project Gutenberg

The dark matrix consists of biotite, aegirine-augite and melanite.

From Project Gutenberg

The chief of this class is the melanite, sometimes dull, yet often vitreous; it is mostly found in volcanic rocks, such as tuff; this variety is very popular with jewellers for mourning ornaments, for as it is a beautiful velvet-black in colour and quite opaque, it is pre-eminent for this purpose, being considerably less brittle than jet, though heavier.

From Project Gutenberg