Word.ws English Dictionary

apatite

Syllables: apat·ite/ˈæpətaɪt/US/ˈæpəˌtaɪt/

apatite noun: a calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition, sometimes used in the manufacture of fertilizer, as a gemstone, and (in powdered form) as a pigment, and also produced biologically in bones and teeth.

apatite: a calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition, sometimes used in the manufacture of...
Image: Texas Lane, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

apatite (countable and uncountable, plural apatites)

  1. A calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition, sometimes used in the manufacture of fertilizer, as a gemstone, and (in powdered form) as a pigment, and also produced biologically in bones and teeth.
    • We had prepared, by precipitation methods, finely divided crystalline apatites that were similar in crystal size and x-ray diffraction profile to bone apatite.1967, Duncan McConnell et al., “Infrared Absorption of Carbonate Apatite”, in Science, volume 155, number 3762 (New Series), Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advancement of Science...

apatite meaning in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Arabic

apatite in Tamil

அப்பட்டைட்டு, அபதைற்று

apatite in Malayalam

calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition
അപറ്റൈറ്റ് apaṟṟaiṟṟŭ

apatite in Kannada

calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition
ಅಪಟೈಟ್ apaṭaiṭ

apatite in Arabic

calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition
أباتيت
More languagesFewer languages
apatite in Indonesian
apatit
apatite in Persian
آپاتیت
apatite in Thai
อะพาไทต์
apatite in Vietnamese
apatit
apatite in Myanmar
နဂါးသွဲ့ na.ga:swai.

Forms of apatite

pluralapatites

Origin of apatite

From international scientific vocabulary, from German Apatit (“apatite”). Apatit was coined by the German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749–1817), as follows: Ancient Greek ᾰ̓πᾰ́τη (ăpắtē, “deceit, fraud”) (as it is often mistaken for other minerals) + German -it (suffix forming nouns denoting minerals or rocks; cognate with English -ite); the German word was first used in a 1786 book. Regarding minerals that were named for being deceptive and thus confused with others, compare also fool's gold.

Words formed from apatite

Questions about apatite

What does apatite mean?
Apatite means a calcium fluoride phosphate of variable composition, sometimes used in the manufacture of fertilizer, as a gemstone, and (in powdered form) as a pigment, and also produced biologically in bones and teeth.
What is apatite in Tamil?
Apatite in Tamil is அப்பட்டைட்டு, அபதைற்று. See Apatite meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is apatite?
Apatite is a noun.
How do you pronounce apatite?
Apatite is pronounced /ˈæpətaɪt/ (UK).
What is the plural of apatite?
The plural of apatite is apatites.

Words near apatite in the dictionary

  1. apathizing
  2. apathogenic
  3. apathogenicity
  4. apathy
  5. apatinib
  6. apatite
  7. apatites
  8. apatitic
  9. apatopygid
  10. apatopygids
  11. apatosaur

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: apatite (page history and authors); apatite (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-apatite.wav.

Cite this entry: “apatite.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/apatite. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.