azurite

American  

[azh-uh-rahyt] / ˈæʒ əˌraɪt /

noun

1. a blue mineral, a hydrous copper carbonate, Cu 3 (CO3 ) 2 (OH) 2 : an ore of copper.

2. a gem of moderate value cut from this mineral.

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azurite British  

/ ˈæʒʊˌraɪt /

noun

1. an azure-blue mineral associated with copper deposits. It is a source of copper. Composition: copper carbonate. Formula: Cu 3 (CO 3 ) 2 (OH) 2 . Crystal structure: monoclinic

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azurite Scientific  

/ ăzh′ə-rīt′ /

1. A dark-blue monoclinic mineral occurring as a mass of crystals (an aggregate) or in the form of blades with wedge-shaped tips. It is often found together with the mineral malachite in copper deposits. Azurite is used as a source of copper, as a gemstone, and as a dye for paints and fabrics. Chemical formula: Cu ₃ (CO ₃ ) ₂ (OH) ₂ .

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Etymology

Origin of azurite

First recorded in 1810–20; azure + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

I imagined a vitrine of the pigments used to achieve those “Gainsborough blues”—indigo, Prussian blue, ultramarine, azurite.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026

The stone containing the azurite residue was initially classified as an oil lamp.

From Science Daily • Dec. 9, 2025

A lion that once stood guard over a tomb in Corinth, in the sixth century B.C., has an azurite mane and an ochre body, calling to mind Mayan or Aztec artifacts.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 22, 2018

She ended up experimenting with early pigment sources like azurite minerals and cochineal insects, sources of rich blues and red hues.

From New York Times • Jun. 30, 2017

It is a fragment from a thin vein of malachite and azurite, or green and blue carbonate of copper, and has been but little changed from its original condition.

From Zuñi Fetiches Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-1881, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 3-45 by Cushing, Frank Hamilton