pyrite
2
7.6
- noun
- /ˈpaɪraɪt/
:
pirita
- I have exactly one specimen in my personal collection: a nice pyrite cube.
- pyrite mineral
- iron pyrite
Take equal amounts of sulfur, rock salt, ashes, thunderstone and pyrite and pound fine in a black mortar at midday sun.
- Take equal amounts of sulfur, rock salt, ashes, thunderstone and pyrite and pound fine in a black mortar at midday sun.
- And a lot of it is is pyrite, man is pyrite.
Examples
-
Riotinto is part of the Iberian Pyrite Belt, a mineral deposit that stretches from Spain into Portugal.
Academic text (2010) -
What did ancient Maya men and women hope to see when they looked in their pyrite mirrors?
Academic text (2009) -
Only the hard shell was left to be replaced by the pyrite inclusion.
Fiction book (1994) -
Finally, he was buried with his mirror of prophecy, a polished mosaic of pyrite crystals.
Academic text (2007) -
Because pyrite is opaque to X-rays, the fossils can be studied within the rock.
Academic text (1992) -
Pyrite, produced by sulfate-reducing bacteria, forms readily in fine-grained marine shales where oxygen is absent.
Academic text (1992) -
Take equal amounts of sulfur, rock salt, ashes, thunderstone and pyrite and pound fine in a black mortar at midday sun.
-
PHOTO: Filled with pyrite, or fool's gold, the delicate paired legs and antennae of a Triarthrus trilobite, left, are unusually well displayed.
Academic text (1992) -
After examining the shiny material in his hand, he said, "This isn’t gold; it’s just pyrite, or fool's gold."
-
The geologist identified the mineral in the rock sample as pyrite, which is often mistaken for real gold.
Synonyms
4
4.9
A shiny yellow rock or thing that looks like gold but is worthless
1
6.0
A hard mineral that looks like gold but is not real gold
A mineral made from iron and sulfur that is often called fool's gold
Compounds
Surface Forms
Morphology
pyrite = pyrit + ite
The form is built from the combining form (pyr-/pyrit-) plus the mineral suffix -ite, but the modern meaning 'fool's gold' is not predictable from those parts for an average learner.
Etymology
Pyrite comes from the Greek root pyros meaning 'fire' because this mineral can give off sparks when you hit it. So, although pyrite looks like gold, its name reminds you it is a 'fire' stone rather than real gold, which is why people call it 'fool's gold'.