steatite Min.
(ˈstiːətaɪt)
Also 7–9 in L. form steatites.
[ad. L. steatītis or -ītēs (Pliny), a. Gr. *στεατῖτις, -ίτης (λίθος), a stone resembling tallow, f. στεατ-, στέαρ tallow, suet: see -ite.]
A massive variety of talc, commonly of a grey or greyish green colour, with an unctuous or soapy feel; soap-stone.
| α [1601 Holland Pliny xxxvii. xi. II. 630 Some [precious stones] there be which bear the names of certain members of the body; as for example, Hepatites, of the liuer; Steatites, of the sundry sorts of fat, grease or tallow.] 1758 Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 66 There is a white steatites, in the parish of Guenap, of a more indurated Earth than the former. 1806 Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) 236 There are several beds of steatites or rock-soap. 1816 Parkes Chem. Catech. (ed. 7) 533 Steatites, a kind of stone composed of silex, iron, and magnesia. Also called French chalk. |
| β 1794 Schmeisser Syst. Min. I. 192 Steatite Soap Stone. 1803 Malthus Popul. i. v. 62 In New Caledonia, the inhabitants..are sometimes reduced to eat great pieces of steatite. 1879 Rutley Stud. Rocks x. 127 Serpentine, steatite, and limonite are probably the most common of these alteration-products of British eruptive rocks. |
b. attrib.| 1839 H. T. De la Beche Rep. Geol. Cornwall, etc. iii. 97 Steatite veins are found traversing the serpentine. 1851 Catal. Gt. Exhib. 1421/1 Two carved steatite ornaments [from China]. 1911 Petrie Revol. Civilisation iii. 54 The splendid steatite vases with reliefs of figures. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 369/1 In Burma steatite pencils are used for writing on black paper. |
Hence
steatitic (
stiːəˈtɪtɪk),
† steaˈtitical adjs., of or composed of steatite, of the nature of steatite.
| 1795 J. Hutton Th. Earth I. 616, I have a specimen of steatetical [sic] whinstone or basaltes from some part of Cumberland. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) I. 109 A steatitic rock. 1811 Pinkerton Petral. II. 235 Basalt, in which the chrysolite is become very steatitical through decay. 1879 Rutley Stud. Rocks iii. 30 Giving rise to steatitic matter. |