▪ I. macle
(ˈmæk(ə)l)
See also mascle.
[a. F. macle, ad. L. macula spot, mesh.]
1. Cryst. A hemitropic or twin crystal. Also attrib. [After Romé de L'Isle's use of F. macle, 1783.]
| 1801 De Bournon's Acc. certain Minerals in Phil. Trans. XCI. 185 Whence results a kind of macle, the form of which is a rhomboidal tetraedral prism. 1829 Nat. Philos., Polaris. Light xvi. 60 (U.K.S.) The irregularities of crystallisation, which are known by the name of Macle, or Hemitrope forms. 1860 Maury Phys. Geog. Sea ix. §442 Crystals of ice, like macles of snow, were observed to form near the bottom. 1883 All Year Round 17 Nov. 535 A diamond at last, of macle shape, weighing some twenty carats! |
2. Min. (See quot. 1865.)
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts, Macle, is the name of certain diagonal black spots in minerals, like the ace of diamonds in cards. a 1852 Macgillivray Nat. Hist. Dee Side (1855) 454 Orthoclase..forms large macles in Rubislaw quarries, near Aberdeen. 1865 Watts Dict. Chem., Macle is the name given to certain spots in minerals of a deeper hue than the rest; sometimes proceeding from difference of aggregation, sometimes from the presence of a foreign substance; clay-slate, for example, may be macled with iron pyrites. 1872 Page Adv. Text-Bk. Geol. vii. 118 Felspar with large macles of mica. |
3. = chiastolite.
| [1821 Jameson Man. Mineral. 318 Chiastolite, Macle, Haüy.] 1821 Mawe Catal. Minerals (ed. 4) 99 Chiastolite—Macle, is of a yellowish white colour. 1822 Cleaveland Mineral. & Geol. I. 427 The term Macle, as the name of a distinct species, applies to the whitish prisms only. 1862 Dana Man. Geol. §60. 58 [Andalusite] often having the interior tesselated with black, in which case it is usually called macle or chiastolite. 1896 Chester Dict. Min., Macle, a syn. of chiastolite, alluding particularly to the black centre which a crystal often shows when cut transversely, similar to the mascle of heraldry. |
4. Her. = mascle.
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Mascle, or Macle. 1828–40 Berry Encycl. Her. I, Macles or Mashes. These terms occur in ancient books of armory, meaning the same as Mascles. 1847 Gloss. Heraldry, Macle, see Mascle. |
▪ II. macle
Printing: see mackle.