Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A glassy, usually yellowish gray variety of orthopyroxene having a magnesium silicate base, mainly MgSiO3, usually found embedded in igneous rocks and meteorites.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A silicate, chiefly of magnesium, with some iron, belonging to the pyroxene group.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Min.) A mineral of the pyroxene group, orthorhombic in crystallization; often fibrous and massive; color grayish white or greenish. It is a silicate of magnesia with some iron. Bronzite is a ferriferous variety.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun mineralogy A form of pyroxene consisting solely of magnesium silicate.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek enstatēs, adversary (because of its refractory quality) : en-, in, at, near; see en– + -statēs, one that stands; see stā- in Indo-European roots + –ite.]

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