Earth & SkyGreek → English
Magnesite
/ˈmæɡnɪsaɪt/noun
Magnesium carbonate, the principal ore of magnesium and the raw material for refractory brick.
The Greek roots
Μαγνησία
Magnēsía
Magnesia, district of Thessaly
-ίτης
-ítēs
stone of, connected with
Literally: “stone of Magnesia”
The story of the word
Three words come out of that one Thessalian district: magnesite, magnesium and magnet, all through stones found or traded there. Medieval writers separated magnesia nigra, the black manganese ore, from magnesia alba, the white magnesium one, which is how two elements with nearly identical names ended up with nothing in common. Kilns are lined with magnesite brick because it holds up past 2000°C.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
magnesiummagnetmanganesemagnetism
In a sentence
Greece and Turkey supply much of Europe's magnesite, most of it burnt for furnace linings.