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 antidote 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／方铅矿 (zh), 方铅矿 (zh) (fāngqiānkuàng)

• Danish: blyglans c
• Esperanto: galeno (eo)
• Estonian: galeniit
• Faroese: blýglansur m
• Finnish: lyijyhohde
• French: galène (fr) f
• German: Galenit m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Greek: γαληνίτης (el) (galinítis)
• Greenlandic: aqerluusaq
• Icelandic: blýglans m
• Interlingue:
• Japanese: 方鉛鉱 (ほうえんこう, hōenkō)
• Portuguese: galena f
• Sardinian: galansa
• Serbo-Croatian: galenit (sh)
• Spanish: galena f
• Swedish: blyglans c
• Tagalog: galena

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Angela, alnage, anlage, lagena

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin galēna.

Noun

galena f (plural galenes)

1. galena

Further reading

• “galena” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “galena”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “galena” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “galena” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

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Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ɡaˈleː.na/, [ɡäˈɫ̪eːnä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ɡaˈle.na/, [ɡäˈlɛːnä]

Noun

galēna f (genitive galēnae); first declension

1. lead-ore
   • 77–79, Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book 33, chapter 31:

     Excoqui non potest, nisi cum plumbo nigro aut cum vena plumbi – galenam vocant – quae iuxta argenti venas plerumque reperitur.

     It cannot be smelted, except together with lead or with the vein of lead – they call it galena – that is mostly found next to veins of silver.

   • (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?)
   • 77–79, Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book 34, chapter 47:

     Huius qui primus fuit in fornacibus liquor stagnum appellatur; qui secundus argentum; quod remansit in fornacibus, galena, quae fit tertia portio additae venae; haec rursus conflata dat nigrum plumbum deductis partibus nonis II.

     That which first becomes liquid in the furnaces is called stagnum; that which is second is silver; what remains in the furnaces is galena, which forms a third portion of the added vein; when again made to fuse this gives black lead, two-ninths having been deducted.

   • 77–79, Pliny the Elder, Natural History, book 34, chapter 53:

     Est et molybdaena, quam alio loco galenam appellavimus, vena argenti plumbique communis.

     There is also molybdaena, which elsewhere we have called galena, a mineral of silver and lead together.

Declension

First-declension noun.

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 in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 701/2.
• “galēna” on page 753/1 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

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Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin galēna.

Noun

galena f (plural galenas)

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

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Spanish

Etymology

From Latin galēna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡaˈlena/ [ɡaˈle.na]

Noun

galena f (plural galenas)

1. (mineralogy) galena

Further reading

• “galena”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014