pyroxene

Etymology

From French pyroxène, from pyro- + Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “stranger”).

noun

  1. (mineralogy) Any of a group of crystalline minerals containing silicates of iron, magnesium and calcium.
    By the pathside, there are occasional large boulders that shown black crystals the size of a fingernail; these are pyroxene minerals that had time to crystallise out deep within the chamber of liquid rock – or magma – beneath the volcano. 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 10

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