a copper-coloured mineral consisting of nickel arsenide in hexagonal crystalline form, occurring associated with copper and silver ores: a source of nickel. Formula: NiAs
Also called: nickeline
Word origin
C19: from New Latin niccolumnickel + -ite1
nickeline in American English
(ˈnɪkəˌlin)
noun
a usually massive, pale copper-red mineral, nickel arsenide, NiAs, with a metallic luster
Also called: niccolite
Word origin
[1780–90; nickel + -ine2]This word is first recorded in the period 1780–90. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: carbon, carton, classification, ego, oxygen-ine is a suffix, of no assignable meaning, appearing in nouns of Greek, Latin, or Frenchorigin. Other words that use the affix -ine include: doctrine, famine, routine