▪ I. siderite1 Min.
(ˈsɪdəraɪt, saɪˈdɪəraɪt)
[In early use a. F. siderite (16th c.), or ad. L. sidērītes m., sidērītis f., a. Gr. σιδηρίτης, -ῖτις, f. σίδηρος iron. In later use directly f. Gr. σίδηρ-ος + -ite1 2 b.]
† 1. Loadstone. Obs.
| 1579 Puttenham Eng. Poesie, Partheniades (1811) vii. 50 Not flint, I trowe, I am a lyer; But syderite that feeles noe fier. 1607 ? Brewer Lingua iv. i, Hee fastens a post, vpon which he hangs me in a corde a Siderite, of Herculian stone. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. lxii, He hang'd on a Gibbet by a Rope a very large Siderite or iron-like Stone,..commonly call'd Load-stone. |
2. (See quot. 1623 and siderites.)
| 1623 Cockeram iii, Siderite, a stone like iron, hauing power to set variance amongst men. 1656 in Blount Glossogr. 1861 King Antique Gems (1866) 67 The Siderites, of a steel colour and very heavy, were doubtless Sapphires, for they could be drilled by means of another Diamond. |
† 3. A phosphate of iron; pharmacosiderite, cube-ore. Obs.
So named by Bergmann (1790) under the impression that it was a new metal.
| 1795 Phil. Trans. LXXXV. 335 The white matter I supposed was the siderite of Bergman; which is now believed to be phosphate of iron. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 179 Iron in a Reguline state united to Phosphorus is called Siderite. 1805 Phil. Trans. XCV. 325 The error which subsisted for a few years, respecting the compound formerly called siderite. |
† 4. Hornblende. Obs.
| 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 4 Siderite sometimes composes entire mountains... This important substance..is the horn⁓blende of the German miners. Ibid. 9 In general..when the substance has a crystallised and silky appearance, it must be classed among the siderites. |
5. A blue variety of quartz.
Named by Moll (1797).
| 1823 W. Phillips Min. (ed. 3) 210 Siderite..is compact, of a greyish or greenish blue colour, is nearly as hard as quartz, and possesses a resinous or waxy lustre. 1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 200/1 Blue Quartz, Siderite, occurs crystallized and massive. 1860 Piesse Lab. Chem. Wonders 72 The beautiful amethyst, the blue siderite, the yellow Cairngorm. |
6. Rhombohedral carbonate of iron, native ferrous carbonate, spathic iron-ore.
Named by Haidinger (1844); also called siderose.
| 1850 Ansted Elem. Geol. Min., etc. 206 There is a strong tendency in these crystalline carbonates to assume a spherical form; and hence the name Siderite and Sphærosiderite. 1879 Encycl. Brit. X. 228/2 Siderite, Chalybite, or Spathic Iron (carbonate of iron) occurs both crystallized and massive. 1894 Harper's Mag. Jan. 410 Siderite, or spathic ore, so called from its sparry or glassy crystals, is a combination of iron with carbonic acid (Fe OCO2). |
7. A meteorite consisting mainly of iron.
| 1875 Nature XII. 521/1 The great division of meteorites into iron masses or siderites, mixed masses or siderolites.., and aërolites or stony meteorites,..seems to be a sufficiently logical division. 1881 Ibid. XXIV. 508 The detection of carbon, while it agrees with the element's occurrence in siderites and carbonaceous aërolites, reminds us [etc.]. |
▪ II. siderite2 Bot.
[ad. L. sidērītis, Gr. σιδηρῖτις, f. σίδηρος iron: cf. prec.]
A plant of the genus Sideritis; see iron-wort.
| 1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. s.v. Sideritis, In all the siderites the flowers grow in circles round the stalks. 1828–32 in Webster (citing Coxe and Parr). |