Clinochlore

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A magnesium iron aluminum silicate mineral of the chlorite group, typically occurring in green or yellow-green crystals or masses
2. A common chlorite mineral composed of magnesium, iron, and aluminum silicates, often found in metamorphic rocks with a characteristic greenish hue
3. A silicate mineral belonging to the chlorite family, rich in magnesium and iron, frequently displaying green to yellowish coloration in its natural form

Etymology: Clinochlore is a mineral, and its name is built from two Greek pieces that describe what it looks like and how it is shaped. The second part, "khlōrós," meant "green" in ancient Greek, the same root that gives English words such as chlorophyll. The first part, "clino-," comes from Greek "klinein," meaning "to lean" or "to slope," and in mineralogy it refers to crystals whose axes are tilted, with one angle not at a right angle. Put together, the name points to a green mineral with an inclined crystal structure. The mineral's name therefore records two observable traits rather than a person, place, or event. Its colour is the green of the chlorite group, a family of mineral names that share the "chlor-" element, and "clino-" marks it out from its relatives by the tilted geometry of its crystals.

Synonyms: chlorite