monazite

1 9.9

A reddish-brown mineral that contains rare earth metals used in electronics

noun
/ˈmɒnəzaɪt/

Specialized

: monacita

The geologist explained that monazite is an important source of thorium and cerium.

Examples

And we were searching for gold and also for a mineral called monazite, which is a good source of rare earths.

Fiction book (2000)
In addition to 12% thorium monazite sands found on Indian beaches and in other places, economically recoverable thorium is found virtually everywhere.

Blog text (32)
And these are the two major minerals that are that are mined, monazite and bastnessite.
Well-defined thorium deposits, on the other hand, are comparatively rare, being found principally in placer deposits of monazite sands.

Blog text (11)
After extensive testing, they discovered that the rare mineral monazite could be mined for high-quality thorium.
And we were searching for gold and also for a mineral called monazite, which is a good source of rare earths.

Surface Forms

monazite singular

monazites plural

Morphology

monazite = monaz + ite

The suffix '-ite' indicates a mineral, but the root 'monaz' is not a productive or recognizable English base, so the word's meaning cannot be derived by an average learner from its parts.

Etymology

The word monazite comes from the Greek roots mono- and monos, which mean 'single', because the mineral often appears as single, separate crystals. So the name helps you remember that monazite is a reddish-brown mineral that contains rare earth metals.