pseudomorph

American  

[soo-duh-mawrf] / ˈsu dəˌmɔrf /

noun

1. an irregular or unclassifiable form.

2. a mineral having the outward appearance of another mineral that it has replaced by chemical action.

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pseudomorph British  

/ ˈsjuːdəʊˌmɔːf /

noun

1. a mineral that has an uncharacteristic crystalline form as a result of assuming the shape of another mineral that it has replaced

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Other Word Forms

• pseudomorphic adjective
• pseudomorphism noun
• pseudomorphous adjective

Etymology

Origin of pseudomorph

First recorded in 1840–50; pseudo- + -morph

Example Sentences

It is a pseudomorph after iolite, and consists mainly of hydrous aluminium silicate.

From Project Gutenberg

Cassiterite occurs as a pseudomorph after orthoclase felspar in some of the altered granite of Cornwall, and it has occasionally been found as a cementing material in certain brecciated lodes.

From Project Gutenberg

The secondary mineral begins to form upon the surfaces and along the cracks of the olivine, gradually producing a mesh-work in the interstices of which small kernels of olivine remain; and when the process is completed the mesh structure persists in the resulting pseudomorph, giving a clear indication as to its history.

From Project Gutenberg

It is then called a pseudomorph, which is a term applied to any mineral which, instead of having the form it should possess, shows the form of something which has altered its structure completely, and then disappeared.

From Project Gutenberg

Hawksnest, over beyond, I noted, had its pseudomorph too; a newspaper proprietor of the type that hustles along with stolen ideas from one loud sink-or-swim enterprise to another, had bought the place outright; Redgrave was in the hands of brewers.

From Project Gutenberg