cuprite

[ kyoo-prahyt, koo- ]

noun

1. a mineral, cuprous oxide, Cu 2 O, occurring in red crystals and brown to black granular masses: an ore of copper.

cuprite

/ ˈkjuːpraɪt /

noun

1. a red secondary mineral consisting of cuprous oxide in cubic crystalline form: a source of copper. Formula: Cu 2 O

Word History and Origins

Origin of cuprite¹

First recorded in 1840–50; cupr- + -ite ¹

Example Sentences

CUPRITE, a mineral consisting of cuprous oxide, Cu2O, crystallizing in the cubic system, and forming an important ore of copper, of which element cuprite contains 88.8%.

From Project Gutenberg

Faces of a pentagonal icositetrahedron with high indices have been very rarely observed on crystals of cuprite, potassium chloride and ammonium chloride, but none of these are circular polarizing.

From Project Gutenberg

The minerals associated with the quartz in this vein, especially the cuprite and mispickel, are found most abundantly upon the foot-wall side, or underside of the quartz itself.

From Project Gutenberg

The etching figures do not, however, conform to this lower degree of symmetry, nor do crystals of cuprite rotate the plane of polarization of plane-polarized light.

From Project Gutenberg