What does "olivine" mean?

Any of a group of olive green magnesium-iron silicate minerals that crystallize in the orthorhombic system.

What is a synonym for "olivine"?

Common synonyms include: alabaster, asphalt, chrysolite, chrysolite, hawaiian peridot, mineral.

//ˈɑl.əˌvin// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Any of a group of olive green magnesium-iron silicate minerals that crystallize in the orthorhombic system. countable, uncountable
"The olivine crystals in most basalts are imperfect, lacking clear crystal faces."
2
a mineral consisting of magnesium iron silicate; a source of magnesium wordnet

"The garnets in the detritus are accompanied by zircon, spinel, corundum, cyanite, tourmaline, olivine, etc."

From olive + -in, later remodelled after -ine.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.