nephelinite

[nef-uh-luh-nahyt]

noun

Petrography.

1. a fine-grained, dark rock of volcanic origin, essentially a basalt containing nepheline but no feldspar and little or no olivine.

nephelinite

/ ˈnɛfɪlɪˌnaɪt /

noun

1. a fine-grained basic laval rock consisting of pyroxene and nepheline

Other Word Forms

• nephelinitic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of nephelinite¹

First recorded in 1860–65; nepheline + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

They are chiefly leucite and nepheline rocks, such as leucitite, leucitophyre and nephelinite, but basalt and trachyte also occur.

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