Dickite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A rare aluminosilicate clay mineral that occurs in weathered rocks and ore deposits, typically white or pale in color
2. An uncommon hydrated aluminum silicate mineral found in oxidized zones of mineral deposits, often associated with other clay minerals
3. A clay-type mineral containing aluminum and silicon that forms through weathering processes and appears in certain hydrothermal environments

Etymology: Dickite is a mineral, and its name honours a man rather than describing anything about the stone itself. It was named after Allan Brugh Dick, a Scottish metallurgical chemist who lived from 1833 to 1926. The "-ite" ending is the standard suffix mineralogists attach to mineral names, so the word is a simple combination of a surname and that suffix. The pattern is a familiar one in mineralogy, where many minerals were named after the scientists, collectors or places associated with their discovery. Here the commemorated person is Dick himself, and the word records his name in the same way that a surname becomes a label for a new substance.