[blend] 
| 1. | sphalerite; zinc sulfide. |
| 2. | any of certain other sulfides. |
| blende (blěnd) n.
[German, from blenden, to deceive (because it resembles lead ore), from Middle High German blenden, from Old High German blentan, to blind, deceive; see bhel-1 in Indo-European roots.] |
| sphal·er·ite (sfāl'ə-rīt') n. The primary ore of zinc, occurring in usually yellow-brown or brownish-black crystals or cleavage masses, essentially ZnS with some cadmium, iron, and manganese. Also called blende, zinc blende. [Greek sphaleros, slippery, deceitful (from sphallein, to trip, from its being easily mistaken for galena) + -ite1.] |