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quartzite

American

[kwawrt-sahyt] / ˈkwɔrt saɪt /

noun

a granular metamorphic rock consisting essentially of quartz in interlocking grains.

quartzite British

/ ˈkwɔːtsaɪt /

noun

a very hard metamorphic rock consisting of a mosaic of intergrown quartz crystals
a white or grey sandstone composed of quartz

"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

quartzite Scientific

/ kwôrt′sīt′ /

A metamorphic rock consisting entirely of quartz. Quartzite forms when sandstone or chert are heated during metamorphism.

Other Word Forms

quartzitic

adjective

Etymology

Origin of quartzite

First recorded in 1840–50; quartz + -ite ¹

Vocabulary lists containing quartzite

Rocks and Minerals - Middle School and High School

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Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

quartzite

The process to make solar wafers starts with polysilicon, an ultrapure substance made from quartzite.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025

Thorne can also be seen on Instagram playing bartender in her designer kitchen, which features a dazzling Madre Perla quartzite island, a Wolf range, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and dual dishwashers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2025

Here, Hublin's team uncovered chips from flint tools and a quartzite flake consistent with the LRJ technocomplex.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2024

Quartz and quartzite countertops have become all the rage versus granite, marble or laminate.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2023

Ranofer, scrubbing away with sandstone at a chunk of quartzite, dared not glance around when Gebu paused beside a half-finished stone coffin only a few feet away from him.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023