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feldspar

(feld′spär′)

noun

any of several light-colored, hard, glassy, monoclinic or triclinic minerals made up of aluminum silicates with sodium, potassium, or calcium, found in all types of rock

Origin: altered < Ger feldspath (now feldspat) < feld, field + spath, spar < IE base *spe-, long, flat board > spoon, spade

Related Forms:

feldspathic adjective

See feldspar in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

Any of a group of abundant rock-forming minerals occurring principally in igneous, plutonic, and some metamorphic rocks, and consisting of silicates of aluminum with potassium, sodium, calcium, and, rarely, barium. About 60 percent of the earth's outer crust is composed of feldspar.

Origin:

Origin: Partial translation of obsolete German Feldspath

Origin: : Feld, field (from Middle High German veld, from Old High German feld; see pelə-² in Indo-European roots)

Origin: + Spath, spar

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