coesite

1 9.9

A rare hard mineral made from sand that forms under very high pressure where meteorites hit the ground

noun
/ˈkoʊ.ɪ.saɪt/

Specialized

: coesita

The geologist identified the shiny black rock as coesite, a rare mineral formed under extreme pressure.
mineral known as coesite

Examples

Then, keeping his movements as slow and deliberate as possible, he walked back across the flats, picking up rocks, scuffing the ground with his boot, and drawing a mental map of the coesite distribution.

Fiction book (2001)
He recognized this specimen, a friable, greenish material with white inclusions, as a mineral known as coesite.

Fiction book (2001)
During their research at the meteorite impact site, the team collected samples of coesite to analyze its unique properties.
The presence of coesite in the rock sample indicated that it had undergone intense geological transformations.

Surface Forms

coesite singular

coesites plural

Morphology

coesite = Coes (semi-transparent) = coes + ite

The suffix '-ite' marks a mineral, but the base 'coes' is an eponym/non-lexical element and does not convey semantic information to learners.

Etymology

The word coesite is named after the scientist Coes and the ending -ite is a common mineral ending that means 'rock' or 'mineral', like in calcite. So coesite is the mineral named for Coes and the name helps you remember it is a rare rock formed under very high pressure, often at meteorite impact sites.