Earth & SkyGreek → English
Rhodochrosite
/ˌroʊdəˈkroʊsaɪt/noun
A manganese carbonate mineral banded in pink and white, prized by collectors.
The Greek roots
ῥόδον
rhódon
rose
χρῶσις
khrôsis
colouring, staining
Literally: “rose-colouring”
The story of the word
Hausmann named it in 1813, choosing χρῶσις, the act of colouring, rather than plain χρῶμα, so the name describes what the mineral does to light rather than what it looks like. The banded specimens from Argentina, cut across stalactites, come out as pink rings like tree growth. Argentina made it a national stone, on the story that the Inca knew it.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
rhodoniterhododendronchromaticrhodium
In a sentence
A slice of rhodochrosite sat on the desk, pink rings and all, doing duty as a paperweight.