melilite

[ mel-uh-lahyt ]

noun

1. a sorosilicate mineral group, consisting chiefly of sodium, calcium, and aluminum silicates, occurring in igneous rocks.

Word History and Origins

Origin of melilite¹

1790–1800; < New Latin melilithus, equivalent to Greek méli honey + líthos -lite

Example Sentences

Melilite, a lime-alumina-silicate, is characteristic of certain very basic rocks, the melilite-basalts.

From Project Gutenberg

Many of them also contain nepheline, sodalite, hauyne and nosean; the much rarer mineral melilite appears also in some examples.

From Project Gutenberg