Definitions

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

  • noun A potassium aluminum silicate mineral, KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2, the most common form of mica, which ranges from colorless or pale yellow to gray and brown, has a pearly luster, and is used as an insulator.

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

  • noun mineralogy A pale brown mineral of the mica group, being a basic potassium aluminosilicate with the chemical formula KAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH,F)2; used as an electrical insulator etc.

Etymologies

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

[Muscovy glass, its former name + –ite.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

In 1850 from Muscovy glass +‎ -ite, from the province Muscovy in Russia. Named by James Dwight Dana.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word muscovite.

Examples

  • The mica group of minerals includes: biotite, muscovite, lepidolite, and phlogopite.

    Vermiculite 2008

  • In 1850, James Dwight Dana formally named this mineral muscovite based on the Latin term.

    Mica 2008

  • The two micas used as a commodity are: brown mica or phlogopite which contains iron and magnesium; and the "reddish, green, or white (or clear) mica" or muscovite which contains potassium and aluminum.

    Mica 2008

  • Very large sheets or crystals of muscovite form in a pegmatite.

    Mica 2008

  • In teaching geology, micas - especially muscovite - makes an impact I can see through it!

    5 Minerals ReBecca Foster 2008

  • These layers can be seen in muscovite mica specimens because it can be split (mineralogists call this feature cleavage) into very thin, flexible, transparent layers.

    Mica 2008

  • Muscovite was always a hit with people in my general classes, especially when I wold tell the girls that some of the "minerals" in their makeup were muscovite/micas!

    5 Minerals ReBecca Foster 2008

  • In the metamorphosed Thunderhead Sandstone it was found that at the staurolite isograd, the boundary between the garnet and staurolite zones, the mineral chlorite disappears from the rocks and muscovite decreases sharply, whereas staurolite appears and biotite becomes more abundant.

    Ken Miller in Cleveland: WEBCAST ARCHIVE URLS - The Panda's Thumb 2006

  • It seems to be a true muscovite, and is seldom marred by magnetic markings or crystalline inclusions that would interfere with its industrial use.

    Scientific American Supplement No. 822, October 3, 1891 Various

  • The proportions of the constituent minerals which form granite, according to Prof. Phillips, are twenty parts of potash feldspar (orthoclase), five parts of quartz, and two parts of potash mica (muscovite), and a survey of Mr. Wilson's quarry exhibits these approximate relations with surprising force.

    Scientific American Supplement No. 822, October 3, 1891 Various

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.