selenite
Americannoun
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Mineralogy. a variety of gypsum, found in transparent crystals and foliated masses.
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Chemistry. a salt of selenious acid.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of selenite
1560–70; < Latin selēnītēs < Greek selēnī́tēs líthos moonstone; see Selene, -ite 1
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.
The 29-year-old, who wore selenite crystal around her neck to “repel bad energy,” was second to last in line.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2022
When the researchers injected sodium selenite directly into the mice’s brains for 7 days, the number of neural precursor cells in the hippocampus tripled, they report in Cell Metabolism.
From Science Magazine • Feb. 3, 2022
In one corner, three forearm-size selenite wands were balanced like firewood.
From New York Times • May 5, 2021
Other items laid out on it include a labradorite crystal for mind-clearing and enhanced intuition, and a wand made of selenite for its protective quality.
From Washington Post
Characteristic of Zuñi windows, and also of those of the neighboring pueblo of Acoma, is the use of semitranslucent slabs of selenite, about 1 inch in thickness and of irregular form.
From A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola Eighth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1886-1887, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891, pages 3-228 by Nichols, Henry Hobart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
