a mineral, silicate of manganese, Mn2SiO4, occurring in orthorhombic crystals
Word origin
[1865–70; ‹ G Tephroit ‹ Gk tephró(s) ash gray + G -it-ite1]This word is first recorded in the period 1865–70. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: batting average, figure skating, goulash, racism, tick-tack-toe-ite is a suffix of nouns denoting esp. persons associated with a place, tribe, leader,doctrine, system, etc. (Campbellite; Israelite; laborite); minerals and fossils (ammonite; anthracite); explosives (cordite; dynamite); chemical compounds, esp. salts of acids whose names end in -ous (phosphite; sulfite); pharmaceutical and commercial products (vulcanite); a member or component of a part of the body (somite)