Alabandine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A dark metallic mineral composed of manganese and sulfur, crystallizing in the isometric system and found in some hydrothermal ore deposits
2. A manganese sulfide ore that forms black metallic crystals and is sometimes mined as a source of manganese
3. The black, opaque sulfide of manganese, a mineral that occurs in certain hydrothermal veins and is valued by mineralogists

Etymology: Alabandine is named after Alabanda, an ancient city in Caria, in what is now southwestern Turkey. The mineral was known to ancient writers as "alabandica," and the name refers to the place where a manganese ore of this kind was traded or mined. Pliny the Elder mentions the stone under a related name, and the link to Alabanda is the usual explanation given for it. The word reached English through the mineralogical naming traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries, when scholars revived classical place names for newly described minerals. In modern usage it is a mineral name rather than an everyday word: the substance is manganese(II) sulfide, which forms black, metallic-looking crystals and is often called alabandite in current mineralogy. The "-ine" ending is the common suffix for mineral names, so the word is essentially a place name with a mineral suffix attached.

Synonyms: alabandite