mineral

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

• noun A naturally occurring, homogeneous inorganic solid substance having a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure, color, and hardness.
• noun Any of various natural substances, as.
• noun An element, such as gold or silver.
• noun An organic derivative, such as coal or petroleum.
• noun A substance, such as stone, sand, salt, or coal, that is extracted or obtained from the ground or water and used in economic activities.
• noun A substance that is neither animal nor vegetable; inorganic matter.
• noun An inorganic element, such as calcium, iron, potassium, sodium, or zinc, that is essential to the nutrition of humans, animals, and plants.
• noun An ore.
• noun Mineral water.
• noun A soft drink.
• adjective Of or relating to minerals.
• adjective Impregnated with minerals.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun In mining, ore.
• noun Any constituent of the earth's crust; more specifically, an inorganic body occurring in nature, homogeneous and having a definite chemical composition which can be expressed by a chemical formula, and further having certain distinguishing physical characters.
• noun A mine.
• Having the nature or character of a mineral as defined above; obtained from a mineral or minerals; belonging to the class of minerals; consisting of minerals: as, a mineral substance; the mineral kingdom.
• Impregnated with minerals or mineral matter: as, mineral waters; a mineral spring.

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

• noun An inorganic species or substance occurring in nature, having a definite chemical composition and usually a distinct crystalline form. Rocks, except certain glassy igneous forms, are either simple minerals or aggregates of minerals.
• noun obsolete A mine.
• noun Anything which is neither animal nor vegetable, as in the most general classification of things into three kingdoms (animal, vegetable, and mineral).
• adjective Of or pertaining to minerals; consisting of a mineral or of minerals.
• adjective Impregnated with minerals.
• adjective (Chem.) inorganic acids, as sulphuric, nitric, phosphoric, hydrochloric, acids, etc., as distinguished from the organic acids.
• adjective the name usually given to azurite, when reduced to an impalpable powder for coloring purposes.
• adjective a candle made of paraffin.
• adjective an elastic mineral pitch, a variety of bitumen, resembling caoutchouc in elasticity and softness. See Caoutchouc, and Elaterite.
• adjective (Chem.) See Chameleon mineral, under Chameleon.
• adjective See under Charcoal.
• adjective See Mineral wool (below).
• adjective a green carbonate of copper; malachite.
• adjective (Nat. Sci.) that one of the three grand divisions of nature which embraces all inorganic objects, as distinguished from plants or animals.
• adjective See Naphtha, and Petroleum.
• adjective a pigment made chiefly of some natural mineral substance, as red or yellow iron ocher.
• adjective See Bitumen, and Asphalt.
• adjective the right of taking minerals from land.
• adjective (Chem.) a salt of a mineral acid.
• adjective a familiar name for hatchettite, from its fatty or spermaceti-like appearance.
• adjective See under Water.
• adjective See Ozocerite.
• adjective a fibrous wool-like material, made by blowing a powerful jet of air or steam through melted slag. It is a poor conductor of heat.

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

• noun geology Any naturally occurring inorganic material that has a (more or less) definite chemical composition and characteristic physical properties.
• noun Any inorganic material (as distinguished from animal or vegetable).
• noun Any inorganic element that is essential to nutrition; a dietary mineral.
• noun UK Mineral water.
• noun Ireland, South Africa, informal A soft drink, particularly a single serve bottle or can.
• adjective of, related to, or containing minerals

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition
• adjective composed of matter other than plant or animal
• adjective relating to minerals