pyrito-
(pɪˈraɪtəʊ, ˈpaɪərɪtəʊ)
combining form of pyrites, occurring in a few scientific terms. pyrito-biˈtuminous a., containing pyrites and bitumen. pyritohedron (-ˈhiːdrən, ˈhɛdrən), pl. -hedra, Cryst. [Gr. ἕδρα side, after tetrahedron, etc.], a form of pentagonal dodecahedron, or solid contained by twelve pentagons, common in crystals of pyrite; hence pyritoˈhedral a., pertaining to or of the form of a pyritohedron. pyriˈtology [ad. mod.L. pyrītologia: see -logy], a treatise on, or the study of, pyrites.
| 1796 Kirwan Elem. Min. (ed. 2) II. 17 The Ores in which Allum owes its origin to the decomposition of Pyrites... 1st. The purely pyritous... 2d. The *Pyrito Bituminous. |
| 1868 Dana Min. 62 Pyrite. Isometric; *pyritohedral... The cube..most common; the *pyritohedron..and related forms..very common. Cubic faces often striated. 1895 Story-Maskelyne Crystallogr. §190. 229 A remarkable combination of pyritohedron and octahedron is a not uncommon form of pyrites and cobaltite... The eight faces of the octahedron are equilateral triangles, and the twelve faces of the pyritohedron assume also a triangular form. |
| [1725 J. F. Henckel (title) *Pyritologia, oder Kiesz Historie. 1757 (title) Pyritologia, or a History of the Pyrites.] 1828–32 Webster, Pyritology, a discourse or treatise on pyrites. |