sylvanite

American

[sil-vuh-nahyt] / ˈsɪl vəˌnaɪt /

noun

a mineral, gold silver telluride, (AuAg)Te 2 , silver-white with metallic luster, often occurring in crystals so arranged as to resemble written characters: an ore of gold.

sylvanite British

/ ˈsɪlvəˌnaɪt /

noun

a silver-white mineral consisting of a telluride of gold and silver in the form of elongated striated crystals: a source of gold in Australia and North America. Formula: (Au,Ag)Te 2

"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

Etymology

Origin of sylvanite

1790–1800; named after Transylvania; see -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.

See Examples For:

sylvanite

But the strikes were rich because sylvanite is one of the richest of all gold ores.

From Rimrock Trail by Joseph Allan Dunn

He 'lows it's sylvanite, same as they have over to Boulder County in Colorado.

From Rimrock Trail by Joseph Allan Dunn

Experience counts a lot, of course, but I do know something about sylvanite, or white gold.

From Rimrock Trail by Joseph Allan Dunn

Chunks of sylvanite that sweat gold in the fire.

From Rimrock Trail by Joseph Allan Dunn

A small part of the world's supply is obtained from the gold-silver tellurides—calaverite, sylvanite, krennerite, and petzite.

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

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

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