galena

See also: Galena and galèna

English

Galena

Etymology

From Latin galēna (“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).

2. (medicine, obsolete) A remedy or antidose for poison; theriac.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Parr to this entry?)

Synonyms

• galenite
• lead glance

Related terms

• galenic
• galenical
• galeniferous

Translations

mineral

• Bulgarian: галенит m (galenit)
• Catalan: galena f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 方鉛礦 (zh), 方铅矿 (zh) (fāngqiānkuàng)

• Danish: blyglans
• Esperanto: galeno
• Estonian: galeniit
• Finnish: lyijyhohde
• Greek: γαληνίτης (galinítis)

• Greenlandic: aqerluusaq
• Interlingue: galena
• Japanese: 方鉛鉱 (ほうえんこう, hōenkō)
• Portuguese: galena f
• Serbo-Croatian: galenit (sh)
• Spanish: galena f
• Swedish: blyglans
• Tagalog: galena

Further reading

• “Galena” in David Barthelmy, Webmineral Mineralogy Database^[1], 1997–.
• galena mindat.org^[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed 29 August 2016

Anagrams

• Angela, alnage, anlage, lagena

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Catalan

Noun

galena f (plural galenes)

1. galena

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ɡaˈleː.na/, [ɡaˈɫeː.na]

Noun

galēna f (genitive galēnae); first declension

1. lead-ore
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Pliny the Elder to this entry?)
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum to this entry?)
2. (by extension) the dross that remains after smelting this ore
   • (Can we find and add a quotation of Pliny the Elder to this entry?)

Declension

First declension.

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	galēna	galēnae
genitive	galēnae	galēnārum
dative	galēnae	galēnīs
accusative	galēnam	galēnās
ablative	galēnā	galēnīs
vocative	galēna	galēnae

Descendants

• Catalan: galena
• English: galena
• French: galène
• Italian: galena
• Spanish: galena

References

• gălēna in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “gălēna” on page 701/2 of Félix Gaffiot’s Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette (1934)
• “galēna” on page 753/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

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Portuguese

Noun

galena f (plural galenas)

1. (mineralogy) galena (mineral mined as an ore of lead)

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Spanish

Noun

galena f (plural galenas)

1. (mineralogy) galena