selenite

selenite

See also: Selenite, sélénite, and Sélénite

English

Selenite (1)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) +‎ -ite; the chemistry sense comes via the name of the element selenium.

Noun

selenite (countable and uncountable, plural selenites)

1. (mineralogy) A soft, glassy form of gypsum (chemical formula CaSO₄·2H₂O).
   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 295:

     I followed them to my study, and found lying on my writing-table still, with the selenite paper-weight upon it, the sheet of work I had left on the afternoon of the opening of the cylinder.

2. (inorganic chemistry) The anion SeO₃²⁻ derived from selenous acid; any salt or ester of selenous acid.

Synonyms

• satin spar (1)

Derived terms

• cadmium selenite
• sodium selenite

Translations

gypsum

Bulgarian: селенит m (selenit) Catalan: selenita (ca) f Finnish: seleniitti French: sélénite (fr) f German: Selenit (de) m, Marienglas (de) n, Frauenglas n, Spiegelstein m Italian: selenite (it) f Latin: speculāris lapis m Portuguese: selenita (pt) f Spanish: selenita (es) f

from selenous acid

Finnish: seleniitti French: sélénite (fr) m German: Selenit (de) n Irish: seiléinít f Italian: selenito (it) m Kazakh: селенит (selenit) Spanish: selenito m

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2023), “Selenite”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “selenite”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2023.

Anagrams

• enlistee, tee lines

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin selēnītēs, from Ancient Greek σεληνῑ́της (selēnī́tēs, “moonstone”), derived from σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se.leˈni.te/
• Rhymes: -ite
• Hyphenation: se‧le‧nì‧te

Noun

selenite f (plural seleniti)

1. (mineralogy, obsolete) moonstone

   Synonym: pietra di luna

2. (mineralogy) selenite