spodumene in British English
(ˈspɒdjʊˌmiːn)
noun
a greyish-white, green, or lilac pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium silicate in monoclinic crystalline form. It is an important ore of lithium and is used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics and as a gemstone. Formula: LiAlSi2O6
Word origin
C19: from French spodumène, from German Spodumen, from Greek spodoumenos, from spodousthai to be burnt to ashes, from spodos wood ashspodumene in American English
(ˈspɑdʒuˌmin)
noun
a variously colored, monoclinic mineral, LiAl(Si2O6), that is an ore of lithium and is used as a gem; lithium aluminum silicate
Word origin
< Gr spodumenos, prp. of spodousthai, to be burned to ashes < spodos, ashes: from being reduced to an ashlike form before the blowpipeImage ofspodumene
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