augite Min.
(ˈɔːdʒaɪt)
[ad. L. augītes (Pliny), a. Gr. αὐγίτης, prob. an inferior variety of turquoise, f. αὐγή lustre: see -ite.]
One of the aluminous varieties of the mineral pyroxene, consisting chiefly of silica, magnesia, iron, and lime; it has a greenish, brownish, or pure black colour, and occurs mostly in volcanic rocks.
(Formerly taken in a wider sense as synonymous with pyroxene; while ‘the Augite of Werner included only the black mineral of igneous rocks—the volcanic schorl of earlier authors.’ Dana.)
| [1786 Chambers Cycl. (Rees), Augites..a kind of gem, of a pale green colour.] 1804 Phil. Trans. XCIV. 302 In many of the ancient lavas of Somma, large augites are imbedded. 1807 J. Murray Chem. III. 574 Augite has also considerable resemblance to the olivin. 1854 F. C. Bakewell Geol. 86 The solid volcanic rock lava, if it contain a large proportion of augite, becomes dark-coloured. |