pyroxene

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: py=rox=ene

CIDE DICTIONARY

pyroxene, n. [F. pyroxène, from Gr. fire + a stranger; -- so called because it was supposed to the be a stranger, or of rare occurrence, in igneous rocks,].

 A common mineral occurring in monoclinic crystals, with a prismatic angle of nearly 901913 Webster]
" The pyroxene group contains pyroxene proper, also the related orthorhombic species, enstatite, bronzite, hypersthene, and various monoclinic and triclinic species, as rhodonite, etc."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pyroxene, n. any of a group of minerals commonly found as components of igneous rocks, composed of silicates of calcium, magnesium, and iron.

Etymology

PYRO- + Gk xenos stranger (because supposed to be alien to igneous rocks)