galena

English

Galena

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Latin galena (“dross from smelting lead”), of unknown origin.

Noun

galena (usually uncountable; plural galenas)

1. (mineralogy) A mineral, lead sulphide (PbS), mined as an ore for lead. [ From circa 1600.]
   • 1939 November, Raymond B. Wailes, Chemical Engineering for Home Experimenters, Popular Science, page 207,

     You can easily extract lead from galena, a natural mineral which has been used in crystal radio receivers.

   • 1942, G. F. Loughlin, A. H. Koschmann, Geology and Ore Deposits of the Magdalena Mining District, New Mexico, Geological Survey Professional Paper, Issue 200, page 98,

     The galena of the ore contains microscopic inclusions of various forms that become visible upon polished surfaces etched with hydrochloric or nitric acid.

   • 1953, National Research Council (U.S.), Report of the Committee on the Measurement of Geologic Time, page 132,

     These samples had higher Pb²⁰⁶ and Pb²⁰⁸ abundances than any other galenas yet examined.

   • 2008, Sanghamitra Ghosh, Heavy Stable Isotope Investigations in Environmental Science and Archaeology, page 77,

     Very little galena has been reported (recovered mostly from burial mounds) in the Great Lakes region indicating that the mineral was not a major interregional exchange commodity during this period. However, numerous galenas have been recovered from the lower Mississippi Valley region and Florida indicating that galena was part of an important north-south exchange system (Walthall 1981).

Synonyms

• galenite
• lead glance

Related terms

• galenic
• galenical
• galeniferous

Translations

mineral

• Catalan: galena (ca) f
• Danish: blyglans (da)
• Estonian: galeniit (et)
• Finnish: lyijyhohde (fi)

• Greenlandic: aqerluusaq (kl)
• Serbo-Croatian: galenit (sh)
• Spanish: galena (es) f
• Swedish: blyglans (sv)

Anagrams

• alnage, Angela, lagena

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Catalan

Noun

galena f (plural galenes)

1. galena