QUARTZ

quartz

(noun) a hard glossy mineral consisting of silicon dioxide in crystal form; present in most rocks (especially sandstone and granite); yellow sand is quartz with iron oxide impurities

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

quartz (countable and uncountable, plural quartzes)

(mineral) The most abundant mineral on the earth's surface, of chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO2. It occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous. Found in every environment.

Synonyms

• quartz

Source: Wiktionary


Quartz, n. Etym: [G. quarz.] (Min.)

Definition: A form of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), occurring in hexagonal crystals, which are commonly colorless and transparent, but sometimes also yellow, brown, purple, green, and of other colors; also in cryptocrystalline massive forms varying in color and degree of transparency, being sometimes opaque.

Note: The crystalline varieties include: amethyst, violet; citrine and false topaz, pale yellow; rock crystal, transparent and colorless or nearly so; rose quartz, rosecolored; smoky quartz, smoky brown. The chief crypto-crystalline varieties are: agate, a chalcedony in layers or clouded with different colors, including the onyx and sardonyx; carnelian and sard, red or flesh-colored chalcedony; chalcedony, nearly white, and waxy in luster; chrysoprase, an apple- green chalcedony; flint, hornstone, basanite, or touchstone, brown to black in color and compact in texture; heliotrope, green dotted with red; jasper, opaque, red yellow, or brown, colored by iron or ferruginous clay; prase, translucent and dull leek-green. Quartz is an essential constituent of granite, and abounds in rocks of all ages. It forms the rocks quartzite (quartz rock) and sandstone, and makes most of the sand of the seashore.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

23 January 2025

LEFT

(adjective) being or located on or directed toward the side of the body to the west when facing north; “my left hand”; “left center field”; “the left bank of a river is bank on your left side when you are facing downstream”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, on 25 September 2016, the Birla Institute of Management Technology (India) in Uttar Pradesh, India, constructed the largest coffee cups pyramid consisting of 23,821 cups. They used paper takeaway coffee cups to build the pyramid.

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