sphalerite

noun

sphal·er·ite ˈsfa-lə-ˌrīt

: a mineral composed essentially of zinc sulfide that is the most important ore of zinc

called also zinc blende

Examples of sphalerite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Mineralization is recorded as hosted within a graphitic sediment horizon with quartz-carbonate veins and semi-massive to massive pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and pyrrhotite. —

Sacramento Bee, 13 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Sphalerit, from Greek sphalerós "causing a slip, precarious, fallible, unreliable, deceptive" (derivative, with the adjective suffix -eros, from the base of spállein "to bring down, catch off balance, lead astray") + German -it -ite entry 1; spállein going back to Indo-European *(s)g^whh₂el- "make a wrong step, stumble," whence also Sanskrit skhálate "[s/he] stumbles, trips," Armenian sxalem "[I] stumble, go astray"

Note: The term Sphalerit was introduced by the German mineralogist Ernst Friedrich Glocker (1793-1858) in Generum et specierum mineralium, secundum ordines naturales digestorum synopsis (Halle, 1847), p. 17. Glocker explains the choice of name as follows: "Nomen Sphalerites, formatum ex voce σφαλερὸς, decipiens s. fallax, eandem significationem habet, quae germanico nomini Blende inest. Saepissime enim varietates hujus generis splendore eximio ornatae a metallorum fossoribus pro aere quodam pretioso habitae sunt." ("The name Sphalerites, formed from the word sphalerós, deceptive or misleading, has the same meaning as the German noun Blende. For varieties of this genus, marked by exceptional brilliance, are very often taken as some valuable ore by miners of metals."). See also blende.

First Known Use

circa 1868, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of sphalerite was circa 1868

See more words from the same year