phengite Min.
(ˈfɛndʒaɪt)
Also 8 fengite; and in Gr.-L. form phengites (fɛnˈdʒaɪtiːz), also corruptly fingites.
[ad. L. phengītēs, a. Gr. ϕεγγίτης phengite, selenite, or crystallized gypsum, f. ϕέγγο-ς light, lustre, moonlight: see -ite1 2 b.]
1. A transparent or translucent kind of stone known to the ancients; ‘probably crystallized gypsum or modern selenite’ (Dana Min. (1868) 640).
| 1601 Holland Pliny xxxvi. xxii. II. 592 In which regard (for that it is so resplendent) it hath found a name to be called Phengites: of this stone the said Emperour [Nero] caused the Temple of Fortune to be built called Seia. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 103 Fingites, is of a white Colour, hard as Marble, and transparent like Alabaster. 1776 R. Chandler Trav. Greece lxiii, The gallery is illuminated with pieces of the transparent marble called Phengites, fixed in the wall in square compartments, and shedding a yellow light. 1828 Webster, Phengite, a beautiful species of alabaster, superior in brightness to most marbles. |
2. A modern name for muscovite, a strongly doubly-refractive species of mica.
| 1868 Dana Min. Index, Phengite, 309. [Ibid. 309 Muscovite. Common Mica; Potash Mica..Phengit v. Kob. Taf., 62, 1853.] 1882 Ogilvie, Phengite, same as Muscovite. |