pagoditen.
/ˈpaɡədʌɪt/, /pəˈɡəʊdʌɪt/, U.S. /ˈpæɡəˌdaɪt/, /pəˈɡoʊˌdaɪt/ Mineralogy. Now rare (chiefly historical).
A soft mineral carved in China into decorative figurines; = agalmatolite n.
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the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > silicates > phyllosilicate > [noun] > talc > agalmatolite
speckstone1794
agalmatolite1801
figure-stone1805
pagodite1837
lardite1868
1837 J. D. Dana Syst. Mineral. 254 Agalmatolite..Pagodite.
1842 W. T. Brande Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art 868/1 Pagodite, a species of steatite or serpentine, which the Chinese carve into figures.
1898 Amer. Naturalist 32 704 Under this head are brought together those minerals, cut or polished, which are used for ornamental purposes, jewelry, bric-a-brac, etc., such as agate, jade, jadeite, fluor spar, pagodite, etc.
1941 Monumenta Nipponica 4 370 This necklace is..a string of the magamata or ‘curved jewels’ so well known to early Japanese culture. They were made of various substances such as agate, jasper,..pagodite, serpentine, [etc.].
1992 Mining Mag. (Nexis) Mar. 144 The rhyolites of Champasak Province are altered to pyrophyllite and kaolin (often occurring together as the hard material pagodite, used for carvings).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1837