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Glite Dictionary
sodalite

sodalite

1 9.9
A blue or blue-violet shiny mineral used as a gem
  • noun
  • /ˈsoʊdəˌlaɪt/
  • Specialized
: sodalita
  • Many artisans carve intricate designs from sodalite for decorative pieces.

Examples

  • The beautiful blue stone in her necklace is made of sodalite.

  • Uncle Julian says the Egyptians used sodalite a lot instead of lapis lazuli because they look alike.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Then she took out the piece of sodalite and pressed it into the earth behind the rock.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • It might be agate, or perhaps it's sodalite.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Geologists often study sodalite to understand its formation in igneous rocks.

Surface Forms

sodalite singular
sodalites plural

Morphology

sodalite = soda (semi-transparent) = soda + lite

Formally analyzable as 'soda' + the mineral-forming suffix '-lite', but the suffix and the specific mineral sense are specialized and not obvious to average learners.

Etymology

The word sodalite comes from soda, for the sodium found in the mineral, and the ending -lite which means 'stone'. So sodalite literally means 'soda stone', which helps explain why this blue gem contains a lot of sodium.