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Amphibole - 5 dictionary results

am⋅phi⋅bole

   [am-fuh-bohl]
–noun Mineralogy.
any of a complex group of hydrous silicate minerals, containing chiefly calcium, magnesium, sodium, iron, and aluminum, and including hornblende, tremolite, asbestos, etc., occurring as important constituents of many rocks.
Origin:
1600–10; < F < LL amphibolus amphibolous
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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am·phi·bole     (ām'fə-bōl')  Pronunciation Key 
n.   Any of a large group of structurally similar hydrated double silicate minerals, such as hornblende, containing various combinations of sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and aluminum.


[French, from Late Latin amphibolus, ambiguous, from Greek amphibolos, doubtful, from amphiballein, to throw on either side : amphi-, amphi- + ballein, to throw; see gwelə- in Indo-European roots.]

am'phi·bol'ic (-bŏl'ĭk) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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amphibole

noun
a mineral or mineral variety belonging to the amphibole group 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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amphibole   (ām'fə-bōl')  Pronunciation Key 
Any of a large group of usually dark minerals composed of a silicate joined to various metals, such as magnesium, iron, calcium or sodium. Amphiboles occur as columnar or fibrous prismatic crystals in igneous and metamorphic rocks. Most are monoclinic, but some are orthorhombic. Hornblende, actinolite and glaucophane are amphiboles. Chemical formula: (Mg,Fe,Ca,Na)2-3(Mg,Fe,Al)5(Si,Al)8O22OH2.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Amphibole

Am"phi*bole\ ([a^]m"f[i^]*b[=o]l), n. [Gr. 'amfi`bolos doubtful, equivocal, fr. 'amfiba`llein to throw round, to doubt: cf. F. amphibole. Ha["u]y so named the genus from the great variety of color and composition assumed by the mineral.] (Min.) A common mineral embracing many varieties varying in color and in composition. It occurs in monoclinic crystals; also massive, generally with fibrous or columnar structure. The color varies from white to gray, green, brown, and black. It is a silicate of magnesium and calcium, with usually aluminium and iron. Some common varieties are tremolite, actinolite, asbestus, edenite, hornblende (the last name being also used as a general term for the whole species). Amphibole is a constituent of many crystalline rocks, as syenite, diorite, most varieties of trachyte, etc. See Hornblende.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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