Muscovite
proper noun
- person from Moscow, Russia
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L474889 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈmʌs.kəˌvaɪt/
adj
Etymology: 1535. From Latin Moscovita (“resident of Moscow or Muscovy, Russian”), also Muscovita, Moschovita, from Moscovia or Muscovia (“Muscovy”) + -ita.
- Of or relating to Muscovy or Moscow, or the people of these places.
- Russian.
noun
Etymology: In 1850 from Muscovy glass + -ite, from the province Muscovy in Russia. Named by James Dwight Dana.
- A pale brown mineral of the mica group, being a basic potassium aluminosilicate with the chemical formula KAl₂(Si₃Al)O₁₀(OH,F)₂; used as an electrical insulator etc.
“Do you enjoy the amber glow seen through the isinglass window of a wood stove? […] Muscovite (colorless, white, or pale red or green) mica is also common[…]; it was named for Moskva (Moscow), where much of Europe's mica was mined. Isinglass, mentioned above, consists of thin, transparent sheets of muscovite.”