▪ I. mineral, n.
(ˈmɪnərəl)
Forms: 4–7 minerall, 5 minorale, 5–7 myneral, 6 minorall, mynoralle, Sc. manerialle, 6–7 mynerall, 7 minerale, minrall, 4– mineral.
[a. (perh. through OF. mineral) med.L. minerāle, neut. of minerālis mineral a. Cf. F. minéral, Sp., Pg. mineral, It. minerale, G. mineral (pl. mineralien).]
1. a. Any substance which is obtained by mining; a product of the bowels of the earth. In early and in mod. technical use, the ore (of a metal).
| ? c 1400 Lydg. æsop's Fab. Prol. 25 Who, that myneth lowe in the grounde, Of gold and siluer fyndith the myneral. 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. vi. xx. in Ashm. (1652) 166 Mineralls be nurryshyd by mynystracyon; Of Moysture radycall. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 288 Some dig for mettalls and mineralls to erect stately buildinges. c 1615 Bacon Adv. Sir G. Villiers vi. §16 The minerals of the kingdom, of lead, iron, copper, and tin,..are of great value. 1634 Habington Castara i. (Arb.) 28 In a darke cave..It doth like a rich minerall lye. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Mineral, any thing that grows in Mines, and contains metal. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 517 Part hidd'n veins diggd up..of Mineral and Stone. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Minerals, are hard Bodies dug out of the Earth or Mines, (whence the Name) being in part of a Metalline, and in part of a Stony Substance. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. i. (1840) 7 As one to music, another to working in and finding out metals and minerals in the earth. 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 235/2 By this plan the ore or mineral is divided into more convenient masses for extraction. 1858 Ld. St. Leonards Handy Bk. Prop. Law xvi. 105 With special provisions as to minerals and the interests therein of remainder-men. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Mineral, in miners' parlance, ore. |
| fig. 1598 F. Rous Thule Q 4 He sees where death with greedie spade, Meanes vp to dig the minerals of his hart. |
† b. pl. The science of minerals. [Perh. with allusion to the
Liber Mineralium (or
De Mineralibus) of Albertus Magnus.]
Obs.| c 1590 Marlowe Faust. i, He that is grounded in astrology, Enrich'd with tongues, well seen in minerals, Hath all the principles magic doth require. |
† 2. Mining or metallurgical industry or
art. Obs.| c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. v. (Parl. Beasts) xliv, Richt as the minor in his minorale Fair gold with fire may fra the leid weill win. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) p. v, It is the manner..of such as seek profit by Minerall, first to set men on woorke to digge and gather the Owre: Then [etc.]. |
† 3. A mine.
Obs.| 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. vi. i. 87 Shall it not be a wild-figg in a wall, Or fired Brimstone in a Minerall? 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. i. 26 O're whom his very madnesse like some Oare Among a Minerall of Mettels base Shewes it selfe pure. 1602 Life T. Cromwell i. ii, My study, like a mineral of gold, Makes my heart proud wherein my hope's enroll'd. |
4. a. A material substance that is neither animal nor vegetable; a substance belonging to the ‘mineral kingdom’. ?
Obs.| 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xiii. lxxvi. 316 Vigitiues, as trees, fruits, herbes, and such: Dead-Beings too, as Mynerales. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd. 78 As for Minerals, they are bodies perfectly mixt; inanimate, not having sense or motion. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iv. 174 Nor do Metalls only sort and herd with Metalls in the Earth; and Minerals with Mineralls. 1874 J. H. Collins Metal Mining 20 Any natural substance which is not of animal or vegetable origin, and which is in all parts of the same composition, is called a mineral. Among miners, however, the term is only applied to such substances as are usually obtained from mines. |
† b. spec. in
Alchemy. One of the three varieties of the philosophers' stone (the others being
lapis animalis and
lapis vegetabilis).
Obs. It is doubtful whether
quot. 1610 may not belong to 4 or 4 c.
| 1390 Gower Conf. II. 87 The thridde Ston in special Be name is cleped Minerall... This Mineral, so as I finde, Transformeth al the ferste kynde. 1610 B. Jonson Alch. i. i, All your alchemy and your algebra Your mineralls, vegetalls, and animalls. |
† c. A mineral medicine or poison. See also
æthiops mineral.
Obs.| 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 54 Make all these mynoralles in fyne pouder and mixe with the Oyle. 1588 Greene Perimedes Wks. (Grosart) VII. 20 Our late Phisitions haue found out a singular minerall, called Hope: applie this to your stomack as a soueraine simple against disquiet and feare. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. ii. 74 That thou hast practis'd on her with foule Charmes, Abus'd her delicate Youth, with Drugs or Minerals. 1611 ― Cymb. v. v. 50 She did confesse she had For you a mortall Minerall. 1622 Fletcher Sea Voy v. i, [Famine] as the wise man says, Gripes the guts as much as any minerall. a 1634 Chapman Alphonsus iv. (1654) 49 [They] Gave me a mineral not to be digested, Which burning eats, and eating burns my heart. 1730 Burdon Pocket Farrier 40 Sweet Oil a Spoonful, æthiops Mineral an Ounce. |
d. = mineral water. (Usu. in
pl.)
| 1885 List of Subscribers (United Telephone Co.) p. xv, We have had a run upon minerals, and are nearly out. Ibid., We are out of minerals. Kindly send us..one gross of seltzer, one gross of soda. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 597 They might hit upon some drinkables in the shape of a milk and soda or a mineral. 1927 Glasgow Herald 15 Apr. 11 There will be..supper with ale and minerals at Osborne's Hotel. |
5. In modern scientific use, each of the species or kinds (defined by approximate identity of chemical composition and physical properties) into which inorganic substances as presented in nature are classified.
| 1813 Bakewell Introd. Geol. Pref. (1815) 9 The number of simple minerals which form rocks and strata is small. 1823 H. J. Brooke Introd. Crystallogr. 80 Cleavage alone cannot be relied on for determining the primary form of a mineral. 1896 A. H. Chester (title) A Dictionary of the Names of Minerals. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
mineral dealer,
mineral-train;
mineral-bearing adj.;
mineral dressing, treatment of ore so as to remove gangue and concentrate the valuable constituents; so
mineral dresser;
mineral map, a map for the purpose of showing the localities where minerals are to be found;
mineral right (see
quots.);
mineral rod, a divining-rod for finding mineral veins.
| 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 174 The croppings of a heavy *mineral-bearing lode are clearly traceable. |
| 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 57 This is generally sold by the *mineral dealers. |
| 1895 Funk's Stand. Dict., *Mineral dresser, a machine for trimming or dressing mineralogical specimens. 1957 Sci. News XLVI. 35 This upgrading [of ores] is the work done by the mineral dresser. |
| 1939 A. M. Gaudin Princ. *Mineral Dressing i. 1 Mineral dressing is commonly regarded as the processing of raw minerals to yield marketable products and waste by means that do not destroy the physical and chemical identity of the minerals. 1957 Sci. News XLVI. 37 The methods of mineral dressing most in use before World War I were limited to gravitation in pulsing or streaming currents of water.., the use of magnets on ferro-magnetic ores, and such hydro-metallic processes as the cyanidation of gold and the leaching of copper. 1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia XI. 1063/2 Modern processes in mineral dressing have become increasingly directed toward using fundamental principles governed by laws of physics, chemistry, and electricity. |
| 1876 Nature 14 Dec. 150/1 Along with this is a *mineral map of New South Wales, showing the localities of the principal minerals. |
| 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 237/2 Certain stipulations are then entered into between the company and the proprietor of the land in which the vein or deposit is situated, or should the *mineral right not belong to him, with [etc.]. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Mineral right, the ownership of the minerals under a given surface, with the right to enter thereon, mine, and remove them. |
| 1809 Kendall Trav. III. 101 The mysteries of the *mineral-rods are many. 1849 T. L. Clingman in C. Lanman Lett. from Alleghany Mts. 187 Travelling about the country under the guidance of mineral rods or dreams in search of mines. 1902 A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden xxi. 184 They've sent for Squire Blunt to come up here in the morning, with a mineral rod, to assist them. |
| 1894 Ld. Tweedmouth in Daily News 5 Oct. 5/6 Our express had a short distance to the north of Northallerton run into a *mineral train. |
▪ II. mineral, a. (
ˈmɪnərəl)
[a. F. minéral, ad. med.L. minerālis pertaining to mines, f. minera: see minera. Cf. Sp., Pg. mineral, It. minerale. The adj. is in Eng. of later appearance than the n., and is in some uses not to be distinguished from the attributive use of the n.] † 1. a. Pertaining to mines or mining. Of persons: Skilled in mining matters.
Obs.| 1592 Stow Annals 11 The saide Philosopher..in this land taught the knowledge of mynerall workes. c 1600 Norden Spec. Brit., Cornw. (1728) 18 It were not amiss that Minerall Artistes dyd strayne their skyll to make a more generall proofe by a more exacte searche. Ibid. 70 The howse of Mr. Windesore, situate amonge the minerall hills. 1602 Carew Cornwall 13 Sir Francis Godolphin..entertained a Duch mynerall man. 1667 Colepresse in Phil. Trans. II. 481 John Gill, a Man well experienced in Mineral affairs. 1672 Boyle Ess. Gems 31 As I have been inform'd, not only by some Mineral Writers of good credit, but also by eye witnesses. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Mineral Courts, certain peculiar Courts for regulating the Concerns of Lead-Mines, as Stannary-Courts are for Tin. |
¶ b. nonce-use. Deeply buried; recondite.
| a 1615 Donne Ess. (1651) 28 Nothing was too Minerall, nor centrick for the search and reach of his wit. |
† 2. mineral virtue: the supposed occult power by which metals are developed.
Obs.| 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. i. in Ashm. (1652) 19 The vertue Minerall. 1750 tr. Leonardus's Mirr. Stones 22 By an example which we shall bring from the animal seed, it will appear, in what manner the mineral virtue operates in stones. |
3. a. Having the nature of a mineral (
mineral n. 1); obtained from the bowels of the earth.
| 1581 in Trans. Jewish Hist. Soc. Eng. (1903) IV. 98 The v{supt}{suph} corruption [of copper ore] is Calcator, beinge the mother or corpus of vitriall, and a mynerall substance. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa Introd. 11 Heere also you haue minerall salt. 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. (1653) 207 Under the name of mineral salt is comprehended the salts of all metals [etc.]. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 80 Minerall salt which in Poland they dig out of pits like great stones. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth iv. 175 By Experience..in any Place or Mine, a Man may be enabled to give a near Conjecture at the Metallick or Mineral Ingredients of any Mass commonly found there. 1712 Blackmore Creation iii. 422 Endless Store Of Min'ral Treasure and Metallic Oar. 1875 Ure's Dict. Arts III. 304 When the mineral ores lie in nearly vertical masses, it is [etc.]. |
b. Impregnated with mineral substances;
esp. in
mineral spring. (See
mineral water.) Also of colour,
† indicating mineral impregnation. Also
attrib.| 1632 Lithgow Trav. ii. 57 Two Riuers, Acheron and Cocytus; who for their minerall colours, and bitter tasts, were surnamed the Riuers of Hell. 1783 S. Tenney Let. 1 Sept. in Mem. Amer. Acad. Arts & Sci. (1793) II. 43, I mentioned some mineral springs in the vicinity of this place. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) IX. 346/1 About two leagues to the eastward is a brackish mineral spring. 1834 W. India Sk. Bk. II. 139 Invalids, many of whom come..for the..mineral baths. 1843 W. W. Mather et al. Geol. N.Y. iv. 308 In this district the only mineral springs of interest are the salines, the sulphur springs, [etc.]. 1911 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 22 Apr. 1/4 Craig..was probably fatally shot by a burglar late tonight in his room at a mineral springs resort. 1972 Gloss. Geol. (Amer. Geol. Inst.) 456/1 Mineral spring, a spring whose water contains enough mineral matter to give it a definite taste, in comparison to ordinary drinking water, esp. if the taste is unpleasant or if the water is regarded as having therapeutic value. |
4. a. Of material substances: Neither animal nor vegetable in origin; inorganic.
| 1599 B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. ii, I haue an excellent mineral Fucus, for the purpose. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 454 Men vpon a couetous mind would needs seeke for siluer, and not satisfied therwith, thought good withall to find out Minerall vermilion. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. x. §9 Mineral medicines have been extolled. 1685 Boyle Salub. Air 35 Some Metalline ores, and some mineral earths themselves have been observ'd by Mineralogists. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 104 Other opinions, indeed, would fix it a solid mineral bitumen. 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 5 The other, extracted from some maritime plants, but most frequently of mineral origin, and thence called Mineral Alkali. Ibid. 51 Mineral Carbon, impregnated with Bitumen. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) IX. 347/2 Mr. Rinman..has found that dephlogisticated calces of iron, and particularly its solutions in mineral acids, have no binding power. 1834 Cycl. Pract. Med. III. 109/2 Of medicines, the vegetable tonics are scarcely so serviceable as the mineral. 1843 J. A. Smith Product Farming (ed. 2) 139 Of Manures of Mineral Origin, or Fossil and Artificial or Chemical Manures. |
b. Pertaining to inorganic matter.
mineral kingdom: see
kingdom 5.
| 1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 520/2 The study of the remaining elements and of their compounds constituting inorganic, or, as it is also termed, mineral chemistry. |
5. a. Special collocations and combinations:
mineral candle (see
quot.);
mineral caoutchouc = elaterite;
mineral chameleon (see
chameleon 5);
mineral charcoal, ‘a charcoal-like substance, often found between layers of coal’ (Chester
Dict. Names Min.);
mineral coal,
† (
a) a variety of coal in which there are no traces of vegetable structure (
obs.); (
b) native coal, in contradistinction to charcoal;
mineral cotton,
† mineral crystal (see
quots.);
mineral jelly, vaseline (Webster
Suppl. 1902);
mineral oil, a general name for petroleum and the various oils distilled from it;
mineral pitch, asphaltum;
mineral soil, any soil in which the organic constituents are small in proportion to the inorganic ones;
mineral solution (see
quot.);
mineral tallow = hatchettite;
mineral tar = pissasphalt;
mineral teeth, artificial teeth;
mineral wax = ozocerite;
mineral wool, a variety of mineral cotton, slag-wool (Raymond
Mining Gloss. 1881). Also
mineral water.
| 1890 Century Dict., *Mineral candle, a kind of candle made from a semi-fluid naphtha obtained from wells sunk in the neighbourhood of the Irrawaddy river in Burma. |
| 1801 Encycl. Brit. Suppl. II. 230/2 *Mineral caoutchouc. |
| 1805 R. Jameson Syst. Min. (1816) II. 401 *Mineral Charcoal. |
| 1802 Playfair Illustr. Hutton. Theory 150 *Mineral-coal..is the same which Dr. Hutton derives from the vegetable juices..carried into the sea and there precipitated..to become afterwards mineralized. 1854 Ronalds & Richardson Chem. Technol. (ed. 2) I. 37 Mineral or pit coal. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Mineral cotton, a fiber formed by allowing a jet of steam to escape through a stream of liquid slag, by which it is blown into fine white threads. |
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Mineral Crystal (among Chymists), a Composition of Salt-peter well putrify'd, and Flower of Brimstone. |
| 1805 R. Jameson Syst. Min. (1816) II. 358 *Mineral Oil, or Petroleum. |
| 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 45 *Mineral Pitch, Asphaltum. Mineral Tar exposed to a moderate heat, and the action of the air, hardens into this substance. |
| 1924 F. E. Bear Soil Managem. iv. 26 The tendency of *mineral soils to be similar in chemical composition, irrespective of their source of origin, is very nicely shown in the following table. 1960 Teuscher & Adler Soil & its Fertility i. 10 The fundamental distinction should be made between mineral soils and organic soils, depending upon the proportion of organic matter which they contain... In general, a soil is designated as organic when it contains 20 per cent or more of organic matter. |
| 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., *Mineral solution, arsenical liquor, or liquor potassæ arsenitis. |
| 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 47 *Mineral Tallow. Its colour is white, its consistence that of Tallow, it feels greasy and stains paper. |
| Ibid. 44 *Mineral Tar, Barbadoes Tar. This is Petrol still further altered by exposure to the air. |
| 1851 C. Cist Sk. Cincinnati in 1851 220 *Mineral Teeth. One factory. 1885 List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 230 Manufacturers of Mineral Teeth and every Dental Requisite. |
| 1864 Webster, *Mineral wax. |
b. in names of pigments:
mineral black, a native impure variety of carbon;
mineral blue, a variety of Prussian blue, made lighter by the addition of alumina;
mineral brown (see
quot. 1930);
mineral grey, a pale blue-grey pigment obtained in the making of ultramarine from lapis lazuli;
mineral green, Scheele's green, arsenite of copper;
mineral lake (see
quot. 1902);
mineral purple, (
a) see
quot. 1850; (
b) purple of Cassius (
Cassell's Encycl. Dict. 1882);
mineral violet = manganese violet;
mineral white, permanent white (see
permanent 1 d);
mineral yellow, a lead pigment made by digesting litharge with common salt.
| 1849–50 Weale Dict. Terms Archit. etc., *Mineral black. |
| 1869 T. W. Salter Field's Chromatogr. (new ed.) xvii. 342 Under the names of Euchrome and *Mineral Brown, they [sc. Cappah browns] have been introduced into commerce for civil and marine painting. 1930 Maerz & Paul Dict. Color 167/1 Mineral brown, this name, or its synonym, Metallic Brown, is occasionally found given to specific colors in paints. It has..long been used to refer to any native earth colored by iron oxide, etc. |
| 1869 T. W. Salter Field's Chromatogr. (new ed.) xix. 375 *Mineral gray..is obtainable from the lapis lazuli, after the blue and ash have been worked out. 1958 M. L. Wolf Dict. Painting 179 A substance known as gangue (vein-stone) is often offered as mineral gray, but it is not a successful substitute. |
| 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 382 If to this sulphate of copper be added a solution of arseniate of potass, a beautiful green precipitate is formed, called Scheele's green, or *mineral green. |
| 1902 Webster Suppl., *Mineral lake, a pink pigment consisting of a glass colored with tin chromate. |
| 1850 G. Field Painters' Art 79 Purple Ochre, Or *Mineral Purple, is a dark ochre, native of the Forest of Dean. |
| 1913 B. Brown Painter's Palette iv. 21 Taking these paints..and making them..account for themselves in the matter of value, we find that their values fall on the value-scale thus:..O.—Burnt Sienna. Rose Madder. *Mineral Violet. 1934 H. Hiler Notes Technique Painting ii. 132 Mineral violet (manganous metaphosphate). 1958 M. L. Wolf Dict. Painting 170 Manganese pigments... The violets are particularly varied, some of the shades including mineral-, permanent-, and Nuernberger violet. |
| 1875 E. Spon Workshop Receipts 93/2 White Pigments..*Mineral white.—Precipitated carbonate of lead. |
| 1844 Hoblyn Dict. Med., *Mineral Yellow, Patent Yellow, a pigment consisting of chloride and protoxide of lead. |