monazite
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mon·a·zite
(mŏn′ə-zīt′)n.
A reddish-brown phosphate mineral containing several rare-earth elements, (Ce, La, Nd, Y, Th)PO4, important as a source of cerium and thorium.
[Greek monazein, to live alone; see monastery + -ite.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
monazite
(ˈmɒnəˌzaɪt)n
(Minerals) a yellow to reddish-brown mineral consisting of a phosphate of thorium, cerium, and lanthanum in monoclinic crystalline form
[C19: from German, from Greek monazein to live alone, so called because of its rarity]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
mon•a•zite
(ˈmɒn əˌzaɪt)n.
a reddish brown mineral, a phosphate of cerium, lanthanum, and thorium, (Ce, La, Th)PO4: the principal ore of thorium.
[< German Monazit (1829)]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. | monazite - a reddish-brown mineral containing rare earth metals; an important source of thorium and cerium atomic number 58, Ce, cerium - a ductile grey metallic element of the lanthanide series; used in lighter flints; the most abundant of the rare-earth group atomic number 60, Nd, neodymium - a yellow trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; occurs in monazite and bastnasite in association with cerium and lanthanum and praseodymium atomic number 59, Pr, praseodymium - a soft yellowish-white trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; can be recovered from bastnasite or monazite by an ion-exchange process atomic number 62, samarium, Sm - a grey lustrous metallic element of the rare earth group; is used in special alloys; occurs in monazite and bastnasite atomic number 65, Tb, terbium - a metallic element of the rare earth group; used in lasers; occurs in apatite and monazite and xenotime and ytterbite atomic number 90, thorium, Th - a soft silvery-white tetravalent radioactive metallic element; isotope 232 is used as a power source in nuclear reactors; occurs in thorite and in monazite sands atomic number 69, thulium, Tm - a soft silvery metallic element of the rare earth group; isotope 170 emits X-rays and is used in small portable X-ray machines; it occurs in monazite and apatite and xenotime atomic number 70, Yb, ytterbium - a soft silvery metallic element; a rare earth of the lanthanide series; it occurs in gadolinite and monazite and xenotime mineral - solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition |
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