chiastolite

[ kahy-as-tl-ahyt ]

noun

1. a variety of the mineral andalusite having cruciform carbonaceous inclusions.

chiastolite

/ kaɪˈæstəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a variety of andalusite containing carbon impurities Also calledmacle

Word History and Origins

Origin of chiastolite¹

1795–1805; alteration of chiastolith ( -lite ), equivalent to Greek chiastó ( s ) set crosswise ( chiasma ) + -lith

Word History and Origins

Origin of chiastolite¹

C19: from German Chiastolith, from Greek khiastos crossed, marked with a chi + lithos stone

Example Sentences

The andalusite may be pink and is then often pleochroic in thin sections, or it may be white with the cross-shaped dark enclosures of the matrix which are characteristic of chiastolite.

From Project Gutenberg

Macle, mak′l, n. a kind of twin crystal: a kind of cross-stone or hollow-spar, called also Chiastolite, having the axis and angles of its crystals coloured differently from the rest.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

The granites pass into gneiss and granulite; the gabbros into flaser gabbro and amphibolite; the slates often contain andalusite or chiastolite, and show transitions to mica schists.

From Project Gutenberg

In the vicinity of intrusive granites slates become converted into hornfelses containing biotite, chiastolite or andalusite, sillimanite and a variety of other minerals; limestones recrystallize as marbles, and all rocks, according to their composition, are more or less profoundly modified in such a way as to prove that they have been raised to a high temperature by proximity to the molten intrusive mass.

From Project Gutenberg

The rocks consist of a clay-slate, with crystals resembling chiastolite and crystals of sulphide of iron interspersed.

From Project Gutenberg