Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various natural metallic sulfide minerals, especially of iron.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Either of the common sulphids of iron, pyrite and marcasite, but also the yellow sulphid of copper and iron, chalcopyrite: the former are called distinctively iron pyrites, while the latter is known as copper pyrites.

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

  • noun (Min.) A name given to a number of metallic minerals, sulphides of iron, copper, cobalt, nickel, and tin, of a white or yellowish color.
  • noun arsenopyrite.
  • noun See under Auriferous.
  • noun millerite.
  • noun isometric iron disulphide; pyrite.
  • noun millerite.
  • noun See Pyrite.
  • noun pyrrhotite.
  • noun stannite.
  • noun orthorhombic iron disulphide; marcasite. This includes cockscomb pyrites (a variety of marcasite, named in allusion to its form), spear pyrites, etc.
  • noun the sulphide of copper and iron; chalcopyrite.

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

  • noun Plural form of pyrite.

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

  • noun any of various metallic-looking sulfides (of which pyrite is the commonest)

Etymologies

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

[Latin pyrītēs, from Greek purītēs (lithos), fire (stone), flint, from pūr, fire; see paəwr̥ in Indo-European roots.]

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