leucophanite

English

A crystal of leucophanite on a needle of aegirine.

Etymology

Originally named Leukophan (1840) by the Norwegian mineralogist Jens Esmark, in allusion to its whitish color, from Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “appear”). The suffix -ite, added later, is used to form nouns denoting minerals.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l(j)uːˈkɒfənaɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

leucophanite (countable and uncountable, plural leucophanites)

1. (mineralogy) A sorosilicate mineral that occurs in pegmatites and alkali igneous complexes as yellow, greenish or white triclinic crystals.

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Leucophanite”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “leucophanite”, in Mindat.org‎^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.