Earth & SkyGreek → English
Malachite
/ˈmæləkaɪt/noun
A banded green copper carbonate mineral, cut for ornament and once ground for pigment.
The Greek roots
μαλάχη
maláchē
mallow plant
Literally: “mallow stone”
Follow a root:μαλάχη1 word
The story of the word
The Greeks named the green copper ore μαλαχίτης after the mallow, whose leaves carry the same soft green. A minority of etymologists prefer μαλακός, soft, since the stone yields to a knife. Russia mined it by the tonne in the Urals, and the Malachite Room of the Winter Palace is faced with veneer sliced from single blocks.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → French → English
- First recorded
- 17th century
Same family
mallowmalacology
In a sentence
A polished slab of malachite shows bands like green tree rings.