selenite

See also: Selenite, sélénite, and Sélénite

English

Selenite (1)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”) +‎ -ite; the chemistry sense comes via the name of the element selenium.

Noun

selenite (countable and uncountable, plural selenites)

1. (mineralogy) A soft, glassy form of gypsum (chemical formula CaSO₄·2H₂O).
   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 295:

     I followed them to my study, and found lying on my writing-table still, with the selenite paper-weight upon it, the sheet of work I had left on the afternoon of the opening of the cylinder.

   • 1994, Stewart Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built, New York: Viking, →ISBN, page 146:

     Glass windows replaced the old tiny windows of selenite (crystallized gypsum), and stovepipe replaced adobe chimneys.

2. (inorganic chemistry) The anion SeO₃²⁻ derived from selenous acid; any salt or ester of selenous acid.

Synonyms

• satin spar (1)

Derived terms

• cadmium selenite
• silver selenite
• sodium selenite

Translations

gypsum

• Bulgarian: селенит m (selenit)
• Catalan: selenita (ca) f
• Finnish: seleniitti
• French: sélénite (fr) f
• German: Selenit (de) m, Marienglas (de) n, Frauenglas n, Spiegelstein m
• Italian: selenite (it) f
• Latin: speculāris lapis m
• Portuguese: selenita (pt) f, selenite f
• Spanish: selenita (es) f

from selenous acid

• Finnish: seleniitti
• French: sélénite (fr) m
• German: Selenit (de) n
• Irish: seiléinít f
• Italian: selenito (it) m
• Kazakh: селенит (selenit)
• Spanish: selenito m

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• enlistee, tee lines

Italian

Etymology

From Latin selēnītēs, from Ancient Greek σεληνῑ́της (selēnī́tēs, “moonstone”), derived from σελήνη (selḗnē, “moon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /se.leˈni.te/
• Rhymes: -ite
• Hyphenation: se‧le‧nì‧te

Noun

selenite f (plural seleniti)

1. (mineralogy, obsolete) moonstone

   Synonym: pietra di luna

2. (mineralogy) selenite