Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A natural beryllium silicate, Be2SiO4, occurring as vitreous crystals sometimes used as gems.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A rare mineral occurring in transparent rhombohedral crystals, colorless to wine-yellow, and having a vitreous luster.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Min.) A glassy colorless mineral occurring in rhombohedral crystals, sometimes used as a gem. It is a silicate of glucina, and receives its name from its deceptive similarity to quartz.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun mineralogy A clear
glassy mineral , asilicate ofglucina , occurring inrhombohedral crystals and sometimes used as agem .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Greek phenāx, phenāk-, impostor + –ite.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Ancient Greek impostor, deceiver, because of its resemblance to quartz.
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Examples
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The largest phenacite crystal ever found is owned by Mr. Whitman Cross.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 598, June 18, 1887 Various
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