- aurichalcite
- \\ˌȯrəˈkalˌsīt\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: German aurichalzit, from Latin aurichalcum yellow copper ore (alteration — influenced by aurum gold — of orichalcum) + German -it -ite — more at orichalc: a mineral (Zn,Cu)5(OH)6(CO3)2 consisting of a basic copper zinc carbonate found in pale green or pale blue crystalline incrustations
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aurichalcite Min.(ɔːrɪˈkælsaɪt)[f. (by Böttger 1839) aurichalcum, erroneous spelling (after aurum gold) of L. orichalcum ‘yellow copper ore, or the brass made of it,’ a. Gr. ὀρείχαλκον ‘mountain-copper.’ So called, because, when reduced, it yields brass, ‘a gold-coloured alloy of copper and zinc,’ whence Sage in 1791 had suggested its possible identity with the ‘aurichalcum of the ancients’ (Dana.) Some authors write orichalcite, but as the false etymology influenced the choice of the name, Dana retains auri-.]A cuprous hydrozincite, of pale green, verdigris, or sky-blue colour.1844–68 Dana Min. 712.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.