Definitions

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

  • noun A clear colorless opal.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A pellucid variety of opal, resembling colorless gum or resin.

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

  • noun (Min.) A pellucid variety of opal in globules looking like colorless gum or resin; -- called also Müller's glass.

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

  • noun mineralogy A form of opal

Etymologies

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

[Greek hualos, glass + –ite.]

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Examples

  • The sixth is the "hyalite," which has but a glassy or vitreous lustre, and is found almost exclusively in the form of globules, or clusters of globules, somewhat after the form and size of bunches of grapes; hence the name "botryoidal" is often applied to this variety.

    The Chemistry, Properties and Tests of Precious Stones John Mastin

  • Os was already far behind us, and would have been out of sight had not the atmosphere been as clear as hyalite.

    The Urth of the New Sun Wolfe, Gene 1987

  • These basalts were covered with a mammiform substance, which I vainly sought on the Peak of Teneriffe, and which is known by the names of volcanic glass, glass of Muller, or hyalite: it is the transition from the opal to the chalcedony.

    Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America 1851

  • These basalts were covered with a mammiform substance, which I vainly sought on the Peak of Teneriffe, and which is known by the names of volcanic glass, glass of Muller, or hyalite: it is the transition from the opal to the chalcedony.

    Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, During the Year 1799-1804 — Volume 1 Alexander von Humboldt 1814

Comments

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  • "Os was already far behind us, and would have been out of sight had not the atmosphere been as clear as hyalite." -- Gene Wolfe, The Urth of the New Sun

    October 1, 2008

  • Presumably same as noun hyaline.

    October 1, 2008