inosilicate

\\|inō, |īnō+\ noun

Etymology: in- (III) + silicate

: a class of polymeric silicates in which the silicon-oxygen tetrahedral groups share half of their oxygen atoms so as to form straight chains of indefinite length; also : a member of this class — called also metasilicate; compare cyclosilicate, nesosilicate, phyllosilicate, sorosilicate, tectosilicate

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/in'euh sil"i kit, -kayt', uy'neuh-/, n. Mineral.

any silicate having a structure consisting of paired parallel chains of tetrahedral silicate groups, every other of which shares an oxygen atom with a group of the other chain, the ratio of silicon to oxygen being 4 to 11. Cf. cyclosilicate, nesosilicate, sorosilicate, tektosilicate.

[ < Gk ino- (comb. form of ís fiber, sinew) + SILICATE]