Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A naturally occurring, homogeneous inorganic solid substance having a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure, color, and hardness.
- n. Any of various natural substances, as:
- n. An element, such as gold or silver.
- n. An organic derivative, such as coal or petroleum.
- n. A substance, such as stone, sand, salt, or coal, that is extracted or obtained from the ground or water and used in economic activities.
- n. A substance that is neither animal nor vegetable; inorganic matter.
- n. An inorganic element, such as calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, or zinc, that is essential to the nutrition of humans, animals, and plants.
- n. An ore.
- n. Chiefly British Mineral water.
- adj. Of or relating to minerals: a mineral deposit.
- adj. Impregnated with minerals.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Any constituent of the earth's crust; more specifically, an inorganic body occurring in nature, homogeneous and having a definite chemical composition which can be expressed by a chemical formula, and further having certain distinguishing physical characters. A mineral is in almost every case a solid body, and, if it has been formed under suitable conditions, it has, besides its definite chemical composition, a definite molecular structure, which is exhibited externally in its crystalline form and also internally in its cleavage, its behavior with respect to light (optical properties),heat-propagation, electricity, etc. Furthermore, it has other characters, which may belong to it even when amorphous (though sometimes modified by crystallization), as specific gravity, hardness, fracture, tenacity, luster, color, fusibility, etc. A certain variation in physical characters is consistent with the identity of a mineral species, but if the same substance, as calcium carbonate in calcite and in aragonite. occurs in two or more groups of crystals which cannot he referred to the same fundamental form, each is ranked as a distinct species. A difference in specific gravity and in some other physical characters usually accompanies the difference in crystallization. How great a variation in chemical composition, as by isomorphous replacement, is consistent with the identity of a single mineral species is a point about which opinion differs: some authors treat the garnets (all of which have the same form and the same general formula) as a group of related species, and others as varieties of a single species. Chemical compounds formed in the laboratory or in the arts are not regarded as minerals; but where such compounds as are already known as occurring in nature are thus formed they are usually called
artificial minerals . Much attention has been devoted of recent, years to the artificial reproduction of minerals, but almost solely as a matter of scientific interest, and as throwing light on the processes of nature. - n. A mine.
- Having the nature or character of a mineral as defined above; obtained from a mineral or minerals; belonging to the class of minerals; consisting of minerals: as, a mineral substance; the mineral kingdom. Coal dug from the earth is sometimes called
mineral coal , to distinguish it fromcharcoal , which is artificially prepared by chairing wood. - Impregnated with minerals or mineral matter: as, mineral waters; a mineral spring.
- n. In mining, ore.
Wiktionary
- n. geology Any naturally occurring inorganic material that has a (more or less) definite chemical composition and characteristic physical properties.
- n. Any inorganic material (as distinguished from animal or vegetable).
- n. Any inorganic element that is essential to nutrition; a dietary mineral.
- n. UK Mineral water.
- n. Ireland, South Africa, informal A soft drink, particularly a single serve bottle or can.
- adj. of, related to, or containing minerals
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An inorganic species or substance occurring in nature, having a definite chemical composition and usually a distinct crystalline form. Rocks, except certain glassy igneous forms, are either simple minerals or aggregates of minerals.
- n. obsolete A mine.
- n. Anything which is neither animal nor vegetable, as in the most general classification of things into three kingdoms (animal, vegetable, and mineral).
- adj. Of or pertaining to minerals; consisting of a mineral or of minerals.
- adj. Impregnated with minerals.
WordNet 3.0
- n. solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition
- adj. composed of matter other than plant or animal
- adj. relating to minerals
Etymologies
- From Medieval Latin, minera ("ore"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Medieval Latin minerāle, from neuter of minerālis, pertaining to mines, from Old French miniere, mine, from mine; see mine1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In geology, the term mineral describes any naturally-occurring solid substance with a specific composition and crystal structure.”
“But those to which the term mineral manure is applied for the most part contain only one or two of the essential elements of plants, and hence cannot be applied as substitutes for the substances already discussed, although they are frequently most important additions to them.”
“This news release uses the term mineral "resources.”
“Hercules de Saxonia, besides heat, will have the weakness of the liver and his obstruction a cause, facultatem debilem jecinoris, which he calls the mineral of melancholy.”
“The air has been let into the one, and the water which they call mineral into the other.”
“Many people look to Mexico as a nation rich in mineral resources, cultural antiquities and historical significance.”
“However, since it seems highly unlikely that random villains would have a specific mineral from a far-off planet conveniently in their possession, they could have it so that kryptonite has a similar molecular structure to some common mineral or metal on Earth.”
Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » How I Would Reboot Superman
“Just a year ago, Yale Resources Ltd. (TSX. V-YLL) decided to concentrate its efforts on developing properties in mineral rich Mexico.”
“You know we are a very important country in mineral deposits.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mineral’.
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SCIE - EU nomenclature
All the scientific words found in the official EU nomenclature. For the screening I used Vocabgrabber of the Visual Thesaurus.
abdominal, absorbent, accelerator, accumulator, acebutolol, acetamide, acetanilide, acetate, acetic acid, acetone, acetous, acetyl and 1171 more...
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CULI - wine-tasting adjectives
In this area of expertise nouns are frequently used as adjectives (almond, bacon, cider, diesel, fennel, fresh-cut hay, wool) or new adjectives are formed (appley, berrylike, citrusy, full-bodied, ...
acetic, acidic, aged, angular, appley, astringent, attractive, austere, berrylike, big, bitter, brawny and 511 more...
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Minerals and Mineralogy
List of minerals, elements, group names and geochemistry terms encountered in the science of mineralogy. I've chosen to avoid capital letters in most examples, though a great many mineral names hon...
galkhaite, xanthoconite, pyrostilpnite, polybasite, pyrargyrite, djurleite, digenite, covellite, chalcocite, cerargirite, acanthite, aeschynite and 2608 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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Wine Tasters' Notes
List of interesting wine tasting notes and phrases. These appear in reviews found at CellarTracker.
a nose filled wit..., interesting earth, burnt butterscotch, tanning lotion, saline-like, mineral, detailed personality, to drink not shou..., slight metallic tang, relatively generous, burgundian typicity, so feminine and 170 more...
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ze list
favorites, of all sorts
obscure, pretentious, debacle, vintage, ostentatious, damsel, plethora, requiem, memoir, loathe, lackadaisical, misanthropic and 82 more...
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Irish English that's not in American ...
Well-known phrases in Irish English that aren't understood in American English.
or next offer, hoover, plaster, soother, chimnea, craic, bits and bobs, grinds, jumper, mum, chancer, ticks all the boxes and 60 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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Words and phrases of Irish origin, or...
not necessarily eponyms, but might be
boycott, blarney, banshee, galore, keen, donnybrook, colleen, drumlin, phoney, clan, cairn, ceili and 122 more...
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GPaX. Words.
excogitate, clarity, obscurity, tangential, interesting, regurgitate, mycelium, degradation, unladen, swallow, klein, quote and 120 more...
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wordsmithing part deux
because wordsmith is not a verb.
enmity, incarnate, chignon, nape, solitude, nocturne, decorum, warren, svelte, interstice, serene, charlotte and 488 more...
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Theme Prompts
There's a fiction meme (mostly on Livejournal) where writers use words as a prompt for a short story snippet. I've been collecting the words that show up on these lists as prompts for creative writ...
white, black, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet, queen, king, prince and 407 more...
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Geology Words
The descriptive science described.
earth, lithosphere, mineral, convection, heat flow, ore, deep time, fossil, formation, rock, tectonics, extinction and 284 more...
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cricketann's Words
time, neck, fallacy, huzzah, lithe, wayback, anil, chaste, mineral, biota, crepuscular, dawn and 16 more...
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Land and climate
obsidian, desert, snowfall, rainfall, hill, cloud, sunflower, meadow, woods, starlight, weed, mineral and 68 more...
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Construction Material for the Immaterial
I like concrete metaphors. These are building supplies I've used for poetry.
...All our joys were clotted
with pearls, all our griefs were denied
with stone, all our words...paint, sandalwood, chalk, aluminum, brick, mother-of-pearl, goldleaf, pigment, mineral, terra-cotta, tempera, ash and 73 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for mineral.

sionnach (Irish) a drink referred to variously as a soda or pop in the U.S.
Typically carbonated and non-alcoholic, e.g. a lemonade or an orange soda Mar 21, 2007