epsomite

[ep-suh-mahyt]

noun Mineralogy.

the natural form of Epsom salt, Mg₂SO₄⋅7H₂O, found as a crust in caves and lake deposits.

Origin:
1805–15; named after Epsom; see -ite¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To epsomite

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Epsomite is always a great word to know.

So is ort. Does it mean:

a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.

a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

epsomite

a common sulfate mineral, hydrated magnesium sulfate (MgSO47H2O). Its deposits are formed by evaporation of mineral waters, as at Epsom, Surrey, Eng., where it was discovered in 1695. It also is found as crusts and efflorescences in coal or metal mines, in limestone caves, and in the oxidized zones of sulfide ore deposits. The purified compound is used in medicine as Epsom salts. For detailed physical and mineralogic properties, see sulfate mineral (table)

Learn more about epsomite with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source

Word Dynamo Rating For Epsomite

People who can define Epsomite may know 40,250 words, as many as a 10th grader.

How many words do you know?

Upgrade to Ad-free Premium Membership!

Quote Of The Day

"Good writing is always a breaking of the soil, clearing away prejudices, pulling up of sour weeds of crooked thinking, stripping the turf so as to get at what is fertile beneath. It would be amusing to carry the simile further. Those bulbs that flower in the sand and wither! The gay fiction annual that has to be planted again every year! Those experimental plants from Russia, France, and Greenwich Village that are always getting winter killed—confound 'em!—is it worth while planting them again? The stocky perennial that keeps coming up and coming up—so easy to grow and so ugly. Scarlet sage that gives a touch of fiery sin to the edge of the suburbanite's concrete walk! And then the good flowers—as honest as they are beautiful! The well-ordered gar den! The climbing rose that escapes and is the most beautiful of all!"

-Henry Seidel Canby

epsomite

ep·som·ite