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• Muscovite
  Muscovite

  noun

  a native or inhabitant of Moscow.
• muscovite
  muscovite

  noun

  a pale brown, or green, or colourless mineral of the mica group, found in plutonic rocks such as granite and in sedimentary rocks. It is used in the manufacture of lubricants, insulators, paints, and Christmas "snow". Composition: potassium aluminium silicate. Formula: KAl 2 (AlSi 3 )O 10 (OH) 2 . Crystal structure: monoclinic See also mica

Muscovite

American  

[muhs-kuh-vahyt] / ˈmʌs kəˌvaɪt /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Moscow.

2. a native or inhabitant of the Grand Duchy of Muscovy.

3. Also called white mica.  (lowercase) common light-colored mica, essentially KAl 3 Si 3 O 1 0 (OH) 2 , used as an electrical insulator.

4. Archaic. a Russian.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Moscow, Muscovy, or the Muscovites.

Muscovite ¹ British  

/ ˈmʌskəˌvaɪt /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Moscow

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adjective

1. an archaic word for Russian

muscovite ² British  

/ ˈmʌskəˌvaɪt /

noun

1. a pale brown, or green, or colourless mineral of the mica group, found in plutonic rocks such as granite and in sedimentary rocks. It is used in the manufacture of lubricants, insulators, paints, and Christmas "snow". Composition: potassium aluminium silicate. Formula: KAl 2 (AlSi 3 )O 10 (OH) 2 . Crystal structure: monoclinic See also mica

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muscovite Scientific  

/ mŭs′kə-vīt′ /

1. A usually colorless to yellow or pale-gray mica. Muscovite is a monoclinic mineral and is found in igneous rocks, such as granites and pegmatites, metamorphic rocks, such as schists and gneisses, and in many sedimentary rocks. Chemical formula: KAl ₂ (AlSi ₃ )O ₁₀ (OH) ₂ .

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Etymology

Origin of Muscovite

First recorded in 1545–55; Muscov(y) + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Muscovite muscovite

"In late December, we received a message from my daughter's homeroom teacher telling us that WhatsApp no longer worked at all," said one Muscovite, who refused to give her name.

From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026

Valery, another Muscovite at the cemetery, who withheld his last name for security reasons, said he had little hope for the future and that after Navalny’s death, that “something has really broken” inside of him.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2024

But after helping them achieve victory, their Muscovite allies sought to dominate them, leading to another Ukrainian Cossack rebellion in 1708 that soon allied with Sweden.

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2023

A Muscovite who gave only his first name of Khachik called the situation “scary.”

From Washington Times ● Jun. 24, 2023

“Up the mountain they have an observatory belonging to the Imperial Muscovite Academy. They’d be able to tell you. I know he went up there more than once.”

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

To give an example of how large these crystals can get, transparent cleavage sheets of pegmatitic muscovite mica were used as windows during the Middle Ages.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017

Two frequently found micas are dark-colored biotite, frequently found in granite, and light-colored muscovite, found in the metamorphic rock called schist.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017

Minerals near the bottom, such as quartz and muscovite, crystalize at lower temperatures.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017

Common minerals are muscovite, biotite, and porphyroblasts of garnets.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017

Bournonite; apatite on muscovite; natural zircon in a spray of colors; dozens more minerals he cannot name.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr