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halite

halite

9.1
A natural mineral made of salt that forms in rocks
  • noun
  • /ˈhælaɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : halita
  • Many ancient civilizations used halite as a seasoning and preservative due to its high sodium chloride content.

Examples

  • This particular photograph is a photograph of a gypsum halite crust.

  • And you'll see here this this is a green band in this gypsum halite crust.

  • It can be explained by the small part of halite in coral waste, in which a certain proportion is trapped and cannot be extracted by immersing it in water.

    Academic text (2018)
  • During our geology field trip, we discovered large deposits of halite in the salt flats.

  • The shiny, crystalline structure of halite makes it easy to identify in sedimentary rock samples.

Synonyms

rock salt
vshalite
5 2.3

Large grains of salt from the ground used to melt ice or season food

refers specifically to the natural mineral found in sedimentary deposits
halide
vshalite
  • Specialized
2 8.4

A compound made when chlorine or bromine join a metal, like table salt

is a specific sodium chloride mineral rather than a broad class of compounds

Surface Forms

halite singular
halites plural

Morphology

halite = hal + ite

Formed from a specialized combining form 'hal-' plus the mineral-forming suffix '-ite'; these elements are not familiar productive morphemes for average B1 learners, so the meaning is not derivable from known English base words.

Etymology

The word halite comes from the Greek root hals meaning 'salt' and the common mineral ending -ite, so halite literally means 'salt rock' and is the mineral we call rock salt.