-lite

suffix forming names of minerals (rhyolite; zeolite).
Etymology: F f. Gk lithos stone

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noun combining form also -lyte \\ˌlīt, usu -īd.+V\

Etymology: French -lite, alteration of -lithe, from Greek lithos stone

1.

a. : mineral : rock : fossil in stone

cryolite

rhyolite

dendrolite

b. : -lith 1b

albolite

2. : -lith 2

phlebolite

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a combining form used in the names of minerals or fossils: aerolite; chrysolite. Also, -lyte².Cf. -lith.

[ < F, simplified form of -lithe < Gk líthos stone; similarly G -lit, earlier -lith]

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lite or Lite «lyt», adjective.

1. not as intense, extreme, or serious as the actual thing; moderate; tolerable; harmless: »

Up to now the Democrats have been coming off as Republicans Lite (Spy).

2. bland and shallow, especially in order to be popular: »

“American Gourmet” is lite history, and for all their charm the Sterns are adamantly superficial (Newsweek).

-lite,

combining form. stone; rock; mineral, as in chrysolite. »

Aerolite = a meteorite made of stone.

╂[< French -lite, earlier -lithe < Greek líthos a stone]

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suffix forming names of rocks, minerals, and fossils

rhyolite | zeolite

Origin:

from French, from Greek lithos ‘stone’

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-lite

(= F. -lite, G. -lith, -lit), a frequent ending in names of minerals (also in names of certain fossils, as coprolite, and of certain types of mineral structure, as axiolite and of some rocks, as ijolite, phonolite), represents the Gr. λίθος stone; the words in which it occurs are mostly intended to correspond to assumable Gr. formations, so that in actual use the ending is almost always -olite, with the thematic or combining o usual in Gr. compounds; there are a few exceptions, as auerlite, chesterlite. The form -lite, which was used in some original English formations (actynolite, etc.) by Kirwan in 1794, is due to the example of the French geologists, who used -lite instead of the older -lithe, the two spellings representing one and the same pronunciation in Fr. The adoption of the abnormal form was prob. helped by the analogy of chrysolite, where the t instead of th is due to the fact that the Gr. word came at an early period into Eng. by way of med.L. and OF.