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Glite Dictionary
bitter spar

bitter spar

9.9
A pale mineral containing calcium and magnesium that people use to make ceramics, get magnesium and improve soil
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : spar amargo
  • Farmers often use bitter spar as a natural fertilizer.

Examples

  • Geologists identified the pale rock as bitter spar during the field survey.

  • The factory imports bitter spar to use as a source of magnesium.

  • Farmers sometimes add bitter spar to soil to improve its nutrient content.

  • The geologist identified a sample of bitter spar in the rock formation.

  • Farmers sometimes add bitter spar to soil to improve its nutrient content.

  • The factory imports bitter spar to use as a source of magnesium.

  • Farmers often use bitter spar as a natural fertilizer.

Synonyms

dolomite
vsbitter spar
  • Specialized
1 8.9

A light-colored mineral used as a source of magnesium and to make ceramics

has identical meaning but is a traditional alternative name

Surface Forms

bitter spar singular
bitter spars plural

Morphology

bitter + spar

The noun 'spar' signals a mineral and the adjective 'bitter' plausibly marks a quality, so a B1 learner who knows both words could infer this is a kind of mineral described as 'bitter'. However, the detailed sense (that it is specifically a calcium–magnesium carbonate and a source of magnesium/used in ceramics and fertilizer) is specialised and not predictable from the parts, so the expression is only partially transparent.

Etymology

The noun bitter spar may come from old miners who called pale, shiny stones spar and who tasted this one and found it bitter. So, the name stuck for the light rock people now use as a source of magnesium and in fertilizer.