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Glite Dictionary
🪨 A blue mineral 💎 Blue like sapphire
sapphirine

sapphirine

1 9.9
A rare blue-green mineral found as small grains in rocks changed by heat and pressure
  • noun
  • /ˈsæfɪˌriːn/
  • Specialized
: safírino
  • The geologist discovered several small grains of sapphirine while examining the metamorphic rock formation.

Examples

  • In her collection, she proudly displayed a piece of sapphirine that showcased its unique blue hue.

  • The mineral sapphirine is rare and often sought after by collectors due to its striking color and composition.

  • Yes, only Ceylon cat's-eyes, cymophanes, and sapphirines would provide the exact shades of green I needed to bring out the highlights in my carpet.

    Academic text (2002)

Surface Forms

sapphirine singular
sapphirines plural

Morphology

sapphirine = sapphire (semi-transparent) = sapphire + ine

The word is built from 'sapphire' plus '-ine', but the result names a specialized mineral associated with sapphire-like coloration rather than simply meaning 'sapphire-like'.

Etymology

Sapphirine for the mineral is named after sapphire and the ending -ine, which makes a word the name of a substance. That's why sapphirine is a rare blue or blue-green mineral that looks 'sapphire-like' in colour.