olivine

[ ol-uh-veen, ol-uh-veen ]

noun

1. Mineralogy. any of a group of magnesium iron silicates, (Mg,Fe) 2 SiO 4 , occurring in olive-green to gray-green masses as an important constituent of basic igneous rocks.

olivine

/ ˌɒlɪˈviːn; ˈɒlɪˌviːn /

noun

1. an olive-green mineral of the olivine group, found in igneous and metamorphic rocks. The clear-green variety (peridot) is used as a gemstone. Composition: magnesium iron silicate. Formula: (MgFe) 2 SiO 4 . Crystal structure: orthorhombic Also calledchrysolite
2. any mineral in the group having the general formula (Mg,Fe,Mn,Ca) 2 SiO 4

olivine

/ ŏl′ə-vēn′ /

1. An olive-green to brownish-green orthorhombic mineral. Olivine is a common mineral in the igneous rocks, such as basalt and gabbro, that make up most of the Earth's crust beneath the oceans. Chemical formula: (Mg,Fe) 2 SiO 4 .
2. ◆ Olivine in which the mafic component consists entirely of magnesium is called forsterite . Chemical formula: Mg 2 SiO 4 .
3. ◆ Olivine in which the mafic component consists entirely of iron is called fayalite . Chemical formula: Fe 2 SiO 4 .

Other Words From

• ol·i·vin·ic [ol-, uh, -, vin, -ik], ol·i·vin·it·ic [ol-, uh, -vi-, nit, -ik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of olivine¹

1785–95; < German Olivin, equivalent to Olive olive + -in -ine ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of olivine¹

C18: from German, named after its colour

Example Sentences

Now, experiments suggest that those same hellish conditions might also sometimes transform olivine — the primary mineral in Earth’s mantle — into the mineral wadsleyite.

From Science News

In 2004, astronomers used NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope to observe brown dwarfs and spotted spectral signatures of sand — more specifically, grains of silicate minerals such as quartz and olivine.

From Science News

Maria-Elena Vorrath, a researcher at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, said in an email that the study shows the olivine process doesn’t work the way we assumed.

From MIT Technology Review

In theory, adding ground up olivine should increase the seawater’s alkalinity, which helps convert carbon in the water into a stable form and allows the oceans to take up more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

From MIT Technology Review

He also points to one of Earth’s most common minerals, olivine, as an example.

From Popular-Science

The emerald rainstorm contains a bright green mineral of a class called olivine—also known as peridot to us Earth-dwellers.

From The Daily Beast

In the more basic phases anhedrons of augite and of olivine appear, and magnetite grains are usually present.

From Project Gutenberg

Olivine occurs in certain of the Rainier lavas, in stout prisms somewhat rounded and often with reddened borders.

From Project Gutenberg

It also surrounds olivine in this same rock, which is a hypersthene-andesite, the hornblende and olivine being only accessory.

From Project Gutenberg

Hypersthene is not the prevailing pyroxene, and olivine is usually present, often in such abundance as to make the rock a basalt.

From Project Gutenberg

Pic′rīte, one of the peridotites or olivine-rocks; Picrotox′ine, a bitter poisonous principle in the seeds of Cocculus indicus.

From Project Gutenberg