Word.ws English Dictionary

sphalerite

/ˈsfæl.əˌɹaɪt/US/ˈsfeɪ.ləˌɹaɪt/

sphalerite noun: a yellow, brown or black, sometimes red, green white or colorless mineral with cubic crystals, of a chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S, often containing also minor metals, such as cadmium, gallium, germanium and indium.

sphalerite: a yellow, brown or black, sometimes red, green white or colorless mineral with cubic crystals, of a...
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

sphalerite (plural sphalerites)

  1. A yellow, brown or black, sometimes red, green white or colorless mineral with cubic crystals, of a chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S, often containing also minor metals, such as cadmium, gallium, germanium and indium.
    • The Monte Cristo and Philadelphia sphalerites have similar mean Pb concentrations (80 ppm) that are lower than the Lucky Dog sphalerites (119 ppm).2009 February 6, Jamie J. Wilkinson et al., “Anomalously Metal-Rich Fluids Form Hydrothermal Ore Deposits”, in Science, volume 323, number 5915, →DOI, pages 764–767
    Synonyms:
    blende, zincblende

Synonyms of sphalerite

Forms of sphalerite

pluralsphalerites

Origin of sphalerite

From Ancient Greek σφαλερός (sphalerós, “unstable, unsteady, precarious”) + -ite; named in 1847.

Words formed from sphalerite

  • sphaleritic

Questions about sphalerite

What does sphalerite mean?
Sphalerite means a yellow, brown or black, sometimes red, green white or colorless mineral with cubic crystals, of a chemical formula (Zn,Fe)S, often containing also minor metals, such as cadmium, gallium, germanium and indium.
What part of speech is sphalerite?
Sphalerite is a noun.
How do you pronounce sphalerite?
Sphalerite is pronounced /ˈsfæl.əˌɹaɪt/.
What is the plural of sphalerite?
The plural of sphalerite is sphalerites.

Words near sphalerite in the dictionary

  1. sphairistic
  2. sphairistike
  3. Sphakia
  4. Sphakiot
  5. Sphakiots
  6. sphalerite
  7. sphalerites
  8. sphaleron
  9. sphaleronic
  10. sphalerons
  11. Sphar

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sphalerite (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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