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sericite

American  
[ser-uh-sahyt] / ˈsɛr əˌsaɪt /

noun

Mineralogy.
  1. a fine-grained variety of muscovite produced by the alteration of feldspar.


Other Word Forms

  • sericitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of sericite

From the German word Sericit, dating back to 1850–55. See seric-, -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.

They are gray in the center, white in the surrounding zone of quartz sericite and green in the outer zone, as Lowell explains the theory.

From BusinessWeek • Nov. 4, 2010

Alunite is a potassium-aluminum sulphate, which differs from sericite in that sulphur takes the place of silicon.

From The Economic Aspect of Geology by Leith, C. K. (Charles Kenneth)

A fine grained compact gray rock, of aggregate structure, consisting chiefly of quartz, plagioclase and biotite, and the alteration products epidote and sericite.

From The Long Labrador Trail by Wallace, Dillon

In the hand specimen it is an apparently pure orthoclase but in the thin section small scattered quartz grains are observed; as well as the alteration products, Kaolin and sericite.

From The Long Labrador Trail by Wallace, Dillon

There is also a small amount of hematite, pyroxene and sericite.

From The Long Labrador Trail by Wallace, Dillon