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Glite Dictionary
Selenite

Selenite

1 9.9
An imaginary person who lives on the Moon in stories
  • proper noun
  • /ˈsɛlɪnaɪt/
  • Literature
: selenita
  • The Selenite waved goodbye as the spaceship prepared to leave the surface of the Moon.
  • look at the Selenite

Examples

  • For some reason, he found himself really liking the pudgy Selenite, thinking of him as a friend.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • He looked at the Selenite and smiled.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "He looked at the Selenite.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The two suits were like two extra men, and there was no room for the Selenite.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Now what do you think?" The Selenite shook his head.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "It's a bite-sized bird," said the Selenite.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "Sealock suddenly stopped moving, staring into dead space for a second, then he turned to look at the Selenite again, his eyes seeming to glow.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "The Selenite's teeth showed briefly, a weak sort of grin.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • No way in from this end." The Selenite grunted as he snapped together the fittings of a heavy beam-welder that he'd stripped from one of the remote work units.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "He'd been surprised at the complex and subtle revelations that the Selenite let him have—there had been a lot of detail slipped in there that could have been left out, a lot of really personal stuff.

    Fiction book (1990)

Compounds

barium selenite
  • Specialized
8.5

A poisonous salt made from the elements barium and selenium

zinc selenite
  • Specialized
8.8

A white or colorless toxic salt used in industry and research

Surface Forms

Selenite main

Morphology

Selenite = Selene (opaque) = Selene + ite

Although morphologically formed from 'Selene' + the demonym-forming suffix '-ite', 'Selene' (or 'selen-') is not a productive, familiar English base for most learners, so the meaning 'inhabitant of the Moon' is not readily derivable.

Etymology

The word Selenite comes from the Greek name Selene, which means 'moon', and the same root appears in selenium. So a Selenite is imagined as a 'person from the Moon' in stories, which is why writers use the word for fictional moon people.