Titanite

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A brown, green or yellow mineral composed of calcium, titanium and silicate, prized by collectors for its brilliant luster ; a gemstone-quality mineral also commonly called sphene
2. A calcium titanium silicate mineral with a wedge-shaped crystal habit and high dispersion ; the same mineral that geologists more often refer to as sphene
3. Silicate mineral of calcium and titanium that forms in igneous and metamorphic rocks ; a name for this mineral that is interchangeable with sphene

Etymology: Titanite takes its name from titanium, the element it contains. The German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth named titanium after the Titans, the giant gods of Greek myth and children of Uranus and Gaia, and the mineral later took its name from the metal. The name describes a chemical ingredient, not anything visible in the stone. Mineralogists also used the older name sphene, from the Greek "sphēn," meaning wedge, because the mineral's crystals are wedge-shaped. Both names remain in use, so the same mineral can be called after its chemistry or after its shape.

Synonyms: sphene