Sphalerite

//ˈsfæl.əˌɹaɪt// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A yellow, brown or black, sometimes red, green white or colorless mineral with cubic crystals, of a chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S, often containing also minor metals, such as cadmium, gallium, germanium and indium.

    "The Monte Cristo and Philadelphia sphalerites have similar mean Pb concentrations (80 ppm) that are lower than the Lucky Dog sphalerites (119 ppm)."

  2. 2
    an ore that is the chief source of zinc; consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
blendeblendezinc blendezinc blendezincblendezincblende

Example

More examples

"The Monte Cristo and Philadelphia sphalerites have similar mean Pb concentrations (80 ppm) that are lower than the Lucky Dog sphalerites (119 ppm)."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σφαλερός (sphalerós, “unstable, unsteady, precarious”) + -ite; named in 1847.

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