▪ I. cerite1 Min.
(ˈsɪəraɪt)
[Named 1804: f. as cerium + -ite.]
A very rare mineral, the hydrated silicate of Cerium (of which it is the chief source).
Found as yet only in an abandoned copper mine at Bastnäs near Riddarhyttan in Westmannland, Sweden, in compact fine-grained masses of indistinct blackish-red colour, and also in short six-sided prisms. It contains also the rare metals Lanthanum and Didymium, and generally a small quantity of Yttrium. Called by Klaproth ochroite.
| 1804 W. Nicholson Jrnl. Nat. Phil. XII. 105 (title) Experiments on a Mineral formerly called false Tungsten, now Cerite, in which a new Metal has been found. 1812 Sir H. Davy Chem. Philos. 433 There is a mineral found at Ridderhytta in Sweden, very like tungsten, of a reddish colour, and which has been called cerite. 1837–68 in Dana Min. 1885 Erni Min. 317 Color of cerite, reddish-gray. |
b. Cerite metals: cerium, didymium, and lanthanum (Watts Dict. Chem. 3rd Suppl. 418).
▪ II. ˈcerite2 Palæont.
[a. F. cérite, ad. mod.L. cerithium, name of the genus.]
A genus of fossil brachiopod molluscs. Also attrib.
| 1811 Pinkerton Petral. I. 497 Some of the marl beds contain cardites..cerites or screws. 1852 Th. Ross tr. Humboldt's Trav. I. v. 184 The cerite limestone of the banks of the Seine is sometimes mixed with sandstone. |