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pyrites

American  
[pahy-rahy-teez, puh-, pahy-rahyts] / paɪˈraɪ tiz, pə-, ˈpaɪ raɪts /

noun

Mineralogy.
  • pyrites
    plural
  1. pyrite.

  2. marcasite.

  3. any of various other metallic sulfides, as of copper or tin.


pyrites British  
/ paɪˈraɪtiːz, ˈpaɪraɪts /

noun

  1. another name for pyrite

  2. any of a number of other disulphides of metals, esp of copper and tin

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of pyrites

1545–55; < Latin pyrītes (plural); see pyrite


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Sulphur from pyrites deposits was largely ignored, since brimstone is cheaper and easier to use.

From Time Magazine Archive

They made a small amount of pyrites containing radioactive sulphur and mixed it with a coke-oven charge of coal.

From Time Magazine Archive

There are two substances which look exceedingly like gold;—copper and iron pyrites, substances familiar to most of us.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851 by Various

Sometimes, as is the case with pyrites, it is entirely devoid of metal.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola

Then too, there is pyrites, or lapis fissilis, from which sulphur is melted.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georgius Agricola

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