rutile

American  

[roo-teel, -tahyl] / ˈru til, -taɪl /

noun

1. a common mineral, titanium dioxide, TiO 2 , usually reddish-brown in color with a brilliant metallic or adamantine luster, occurring in crystals: used to coat welding rods.

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rutile British  

/ ˈruːtaɪl /

noun

1. a black, yellowish, or reddish-brown mineral, found in igneous rocks, metamorphosed limestones, and quartz veins. It is a source of titanium. Composition: titanium dioxide. Formula: TiO 2 . Crystal structure: tetragonal

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rutile Scientific  

/ ro̅o̅′tēl′,-tīl′ /

1. A lustrous red, reddish-brown, or black tetragonal mineral that is an ore of titanium. Rutile usually occurs as prismatic crystals in other minerals, especially as dark needlelike crystals in quartz. Chemical formula: TiO ₂ .

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Etymology

Origin of rutile

1795–1805; < French < German Rutil < Latin rutilus red ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rutile

The surge in sales—which more than doubled on-quarter—is underpinned by zircon and synthetic rutile volumes, while rutile lagged, MS says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Cubic zirconia and rutile titania could meet demand in theory, but economic modeling by the Columbia team suggests production costs would skyrocket with increased demand.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2025

Australia is the world’s top producer of lithium and rutile and the second-largest producer of zircon and rare earth elements.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 22, 2022

Rio Tinto's South African subsidiary Richards Bay Minerals extracts and refines heavy mineral sands and produces ilmenite, rutile, and zircon at its site in northern KwaZulu-Natal province.

From Reuters ● Feb. 3, 2022

The following minerals, according to Griffin, produce beads with soda, but do not fuse when heated alone: quartz, agalmatolyte, dioptase, hisingerite, sideroschilosite, leucite, rutile, pyrophyllite, wolckonskoite.

From A System of Instruction in the Practical Use of the Blowpipe Being A Graduated Course Of Analysis For The Use Of Students And All Those Engaged In The Examination Of Metallic Combinations by Anonymous