Earth & SkyGreek → English
Titanite
/ˈtaɪtənaɪt/noun
A wedge-shaped calcium titanium silicate mineral, honey to brown in colour, common as an accessory in igneous rocks.
The Greek roots
Τιτάν
Tītā́n
a Titan, elder god
Literally: “the Titan stone”
Follow a root:Τιτάν4 words
The story of the word
Klaproth named the element titanium in 1795 after the Titans, the generation of gods overthrown by Zeus, and the mineral took its name from the metal it carries. Mineralogists spent two centuries arguing with the alternative name sphene, from the Greek for wedge, which describes the crystal shape. Titanite is now the accepted name, and it is a workhorse for uranium-lead dating.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → scientific coinage → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
titaniumtitanicTitan
In a sentence
Thin sections showed titanite rimming the ilmenite grains.
Under the microscope the titanite wedges are unmistakable.