pyroxene

[ pahy-rok-seen, puh-, pahy-rok-seen ]

noun

any of a very common group of minerals of many varieties, silicates of magnesium, iron, calcium, and other elements, occurring as important constituents of many kinds of rocks, especially basic igneous rocks.

Origin of pyroxene

1790–1800; <French; see pyro-, xeno-; originally supposed to be a foreign substance when found in igneous rocks

Other words from pyroxene

py·rox·en·ic [pahy-rok-sen-ik], /ˌpaɪ rɒkˈsɛn ɪk/, adjective

Compare augite, diopside, hypersthene.

Words Nearby pyroxene

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use pyroxene in a sentence

When we first looked at Kamo’oalewa we detected a mineral called pyroxene…that is very similar to what we seen on the Moon.
This bitty near-Earth asteroid might be a piece of the moon | Hannah Seo | November 12, 2021 | Popular-Science
Hypersthene is not the prevailing pyroxene, and olivine is usually present, often in such abundance as to make the rock a basalt.
Mount Rainier | Various
Rougemonite consists largely of anorthite with pyroxene as the only important ferro-magnesian constituent.
Montreal 1535-1914 under the French Rgime | William Henry Atherton
The third is less easily recognized as pyroxene, another of the many minerals containing iron.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, February 1899 | Various
The pyroxene in particular is very much changed, and quickly crumbles away in the hand.
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, February 1899 | Various

pyroxene is most abundantly represented as crystals in many kinds of igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Geology | William J. Miller

British Dictionary definitions for pyroxene

pyroxene

/ (paɪˈrɒksiːn) /

noun

any of a group of silicate minerals having the general formula ABSi 2 O 6, where A is usually calcium, sodium, magnesium, or iron, and B is usually magnesium, iron, chromium, manganese, or aluminium. Pyroxenes occur in basic igneous rocks and some metamorphic rocks, and have colours ranging from white to dark green or black. They may be monoclinic (clinopyroxenes) or orthorhombic (orthopyroxenes) in crystal structure. Examples are augite (the most important pyroxene), diopside, enstatite, hypersthene, and jadeite

Origin of pyroxene

C19: pyro- + -xene from Greek xenos foreign, because it was mistakenly thought to have originated elsewhere when found in igneous rocks

Derived forms of pyroxene

pyroxenic (ˌpaɪrɒkˈsɛnɪk), adjective

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

Scientific definitions for pyroxene

pyroxene

[ pī-rŏk′sēn′ ]

Any of a series of dark silicate minerals having the general chemical formula ABSi2O6, where A is either calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg), or iron (Fe), and B is either magnesium, iron, chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), or aluminum (Al). Pyroxenes vary in color from white to dark green or black and are characterized by a rectangular-shaped cross section. They can be either monoclinic or orthorhombic and occur in igneous and metamorphic rocks. The minerals enstatite, diopside, and augite are pyroxenes.

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