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sunstone

 - 4 dictionary results

sun⋅stone

[suhn-stohn]
–noun
a reddish variety of oligoclase feldspar, used as a gem, having a red and bright-yellow play of color.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME; see sun, stone
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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a·ven·tu·rine   (ə-věn'chə-rēn', -rĭn)   
n.  
  1. An opaque or semitranslucent brown glass flecked with small metallic particles, often of copper or chromic oxide.

  2. Any of several varieties of quartz or feldspar flecked with particles of mica, hematite, or other materials. Also called sunstone.


[French, from aventure, accident (so called because of its accidental discovery or the randomness of inclusions in it); see adventure.]
a·ven'tu·rine' adj.
sun·stone   (sŭn'stōn')   
n.  See aventurine.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

sunstone

a gemstone variety of feldspar that has minute platelike inclusions of iron oxide (hematite or goethite) oriented parallel to one another throughout. The reflections from these inclusions give the mineral (usually the plagioclase feldspars albite, oligoclase, or labradorite, but sometimes the alkali feldspar orthoclase) a spangled appearance and often a reddish glow. The stone is often cut en cabochon (i.e., with a rounded and convex polished surface). Sunstone occurs in Tvedestrand, Nor.; near Lake Baikal, Russia; and at Middletown, Pa., and Statesville, N.C., in the United States.

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

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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