selenite

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a transparent or translucent crystalline variety of gypsum

   A clear slab of selenite served as a heavy paperweight on the desk.

2. 2
   noun

   a salt or ester containing the selenite ion, SeO₃²⁻

   The laboratory measured the amount of selenite dissolved in the water sample.

From Latin selenites and Greek selenites lithos, 'moon stone,' from Selene, 'moon.' The mineral was named for its pale, moonlike appearance or an old belief that it waxed and waned with the moon; chemistry later reused the form for salts of selenous acid.

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