quartz

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a hard glossy mineral consisting of silicon dioxide in crystal form

   Quartz has many industrial uses.

2. 2
   noun

   colorless glass made of almost pure silica

   Quartz is often used for watch faces.

3. 3
   noun

   The most abundant mineral on the earth's surface, of chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO₂. It occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous. Found in every environment.

   The telescope and collimator have each an object-glass consisting of a single lens of quartz 1½ inch diameter and a focal length of 18½ inches for the sodium yellow light, but not more than 16 inches for the highest rays measured.

4. 4
   noun

   Crystal meth: methamphetamine hydrochloride.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Quartz entered English through German, which borrowed it from Polish dialect kwardy, corresponding to Czech tvrdý, meaning “hard.”

From German Quarz, from Middle High German (Central East German) quarz, twarc, from a West Slavic language [compare Polish twardy (“hard”), Czech tvrdý (“hard”)], from Proto-Slavic *tvьrdъ ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *twerH- (“to enclose, grab”).

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary