marcasite

English

Marcasite

Etymology

Etymology tree

Sumerian 𒈥𒄩𒅆𒆠der.

Arabic مَرْقَشِيتَا (marqašītā)der.

English marcasite

From Medieval Latin marchasita et al., from Arabic مَرْقَشِيتَا (marqašītā).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑːkəsʌɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑɹ.kə.sɑɪ̯t/, /ˌmɑɹ.kəˈzit/
• Hyphenation: mar‧ca‧site

Noun

marcasite (countable and uncountable, plural marcasites)

1. (mineralogy) The orthorhombic form of iron disulfide, FeS₂, occurring as yellow crystals. [from 19th c.]

   Synonym: white iron pyrite

2. (jewelry) Pyrite.
3. (historical) Any of various metal sulfides, usually iron sulfide minerals. [from 15th c.]
   • 1999, Paracelsus, “Opus Paramirum”, in Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, transl., Essential Readings, North Atlantic Books, page 95:

     If he wants to speak as a physician, however, he must say, this marcasite is the man's disease, hence it will cure him.

Usage notes

• Marcasite is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, although the two have the same chemical composition.

Derived terms

• golden marcasite
• marcasitic

Translations

mineral

• Arabic: مَرْقَشِيتَا f (marqašītā)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܡܰܪܩܫܺܝܬܴܐ f (marqəšīṯā)

  Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: מרקשיתא f (marqəšīṯā)

• Armenian: մարկազիտ (hy) (markazit), լուսաքար (hy) (lusakʻar)
• Catalan: marcassita f
• Czech: markazit (cs) m, markasit m
• Finnish: markasiitti
• French: marcassite (fr) f
• German: Markasit m
• Italian: marcasite f
• Latin: marchasita f
• Polish: markasyt (pl) m, markazyt m
• Russian: маркази́т (ru) m (markazít)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: марка̀зӣт m, марка̀сӣт m

  Latin: markàzīt (sh) m, markàsīt m

• Spanish: marcasita f, margajita f

See also

• pyrite

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2026), “Marcasite”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “marcasite”, in Mindat.org, Keswick, Va.: Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2026.

French

Noun

marcasite f (plural marcasites)

1. alternative form of marcassite

Italian

Noun

marcasite f (plural marcasiti)

1. (mineralogy) marcasite

Anagrams

• camerasti, camerista, ceramista, cresimata, macerasti, marciaste, masticare, ricamaste, smerciata