Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A mineral silicate of iron and magnesium, principally (Mg, Fe)2SiO4, found in igneous and metamorphic rocks and used as a structural material in refractories and in cements.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Min.) A common name of the yellowish green mineral chrysolite, esp. the variety found in eruptive rocks. It is a silicate of magnesium and iron ((Mg,Fe)SiO4).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun mineralogy, geology Any of a group of olive green magnesium-iron silicate minerals that crystallize in the orthorhombic system.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a mineral consisting of magnesium iron silicate; a source of magnesium

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[olive (from its color) + –ine.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From olive +‎ -in, later remodelled after -ine.

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Examples

  • The mineral most subject to this serpentinization process is called olivine—also known in its gemstone form as peridot—and it is common on Mars.

    First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

  • The mineral most subject to this serpentinization process is called olivine—also known in its gemstone form as peridot—and it is common on Mars.

    First Contact Marc Kaufman 2011

  • And there's a mineral called olivine, which is very, very susceptible to being altered by water and changed into other compounds, but there is a lot of olivine on Mars, and that would indicate, well, maybe there wasn't water because there shouldn't be so much olivine there if there was an ocean.

    More Evidence Of A Wet Past On Mars 2010

  • I found a mass of crystals of the greenish volcanic glass, called olivine, imbedded in a piece of phonolite which looked as blue and fresh as if only quarried yesterday.

    The Hawaiian Archipelago Isabella Lucy 2004

  • In them are found the beautiful olive-green crystals of the mineral called olivine, sometimes used by jewellers.

    Wonders of Creation Anonymous

  • I found a mass of crystals of the greenish volcanic glass, called olivine, imbedded in a piece of phonolite which looked as blue and fresh as if only quarried yesterday.

    The Hawaiian Archipelago 1867

  • What Spitzer observed was a sort of perpetual crystalline rainstorm made of a bright green mineral of a class called olivine, pouring down on the infant star.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • What Spitzer observed was a sort of perpetual crystalline rainstorm made of a bright green mineral of a class called olivine, pouring down on the infant star.

    TIME.com: Top Stories 2011

  • They are composed of roughly equal amounts of iron-nickel alloy and a green-brown-coloured silicate mineral called olivine and are thought to come from deep within asteroids.

    CBC | Top Stories News 2011

  • The mineral, called olivine, is deemed to be a telltale of mantle, the deep inner layer of iron - and magnesium-rich rock that lies beneath the Moon's crust.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010

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