phlogopite

noun

phlog·​o·​pite ˈflä-gə-ˌpīt 

: a usually brown to red form of mica

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Phlogopit, from Greek phlogōpós "flaming, of flaming appearance" (from phlog-, phlóx "flame, blaze" + -ōpos, derivative of -ōps "having the appearance [of the thing specified by the initial element]," form in combination of ōp-, *ṓps "eye, face") + German -it -ite entry 1 — more at phlox, eye entry 1

Note: The term was introduced by the German mineralogist August Breithaupt (1791-1873) in Vollständiges Handbuch der Mineralogie, vol. 2 (Dresden/Leipzig, 1841), p. 398. The mineral was named both for its external color and its color in the flame of a blowpipe.

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above