mineral

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
This mineral is a species of crystal, or crystalline alumina--an almost pure anhydrous alumina, Al_{2}O_{3}--in many varieties, both of shape and colour.

View all »
Definitions (54)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (11)

  1. noun A naturally occurring, homogeneous inorganic solid substance having a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure, color, and hardness.
  2. noun Any of various natural substances, as:
  3. noun An element, such as gold or silver.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (35)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (5)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • The campaign also has a more tangible motive: the trade in columbite-tantalite (coltan), dubbed "Africa's blood metal", a rare mineral which is a crucial element in mobile phones, laptops and videogame consoles, and is mined in Congo, along with diamonds and gold. —  Pat Dollard | Young Americans
  • Rocks are composed of minerals, but a mineral is a mineral: for example, turquoise has the same chemical structure no matter where it is found. —  Sedona, Arizona, Events, News and Press
  • It should have the right amount of zinc, a mineral which is known to boost the immune system. —  xml's Blinklist.com
  • Talc is a mineral which is processed by crushing, drying and milling.
  • Peoples 'recent ruling says the Cumberland Trail State Park opinion makes it clear that regardless of whether the substance to be removed is classified as a mineral, "the method of removal and resulting condition of the surface after the removal is a key consideration." —  theleafchronicle.com - Local News
 

Tags

mineral hasn't been tagged yet.

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Words tagged mineral

animal · chabazite · gmelinite · gadolinite · gehlenite · alunite · kalinite · kaolinite · glauconite · andradite · demantoid

More »

Stats

This word has been looked up 167 times.

On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Medieval Latin minerāle, from neuter of minerālis, pertaining to mines, from Old French miniere, mine, from mine; see mine1.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = D). mineraal = G. Swedish Danish mineral, from Old French mineral, French minéral = Spanish Portuguese mineral = Italian minerale, a mineral, from Middle Latin minerale, also minorale, a mineral, ore, also a mine (often in plural mineralia, minoralia, later Old French minerailles, minerals), properly neuter of mineralis, adjective (which, however, occurs much later than the noun), from minera, mineria (after Roman), prop, minaria, minarium, a mine, also a mineral (later Italian Spanish minera = Old French miniere, a mine, French minière, later G. miner, a mineral, ore), fem, and neuter respectively of an adjective minarius, pertaining to a mine (as a noun, minarius, masculine, a miner: see miner), equivalent to mina, a mine, from minare, mine, open a mine: see mine
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »

/ˈmɪnərəl/
by American Heritage

Charts

frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word a few times a week.

Recently looked up

mithril · chickie · research-based · mulish · yeth

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

minty-fresh death threat · please stop sucking the monkeybread · beauregard · unicycle hockey · Ipanema