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meerschaum

(mir′s̸həm, -s̸hôm′)

noun

a soft, claylike, orthorhombic mineral, Mg(SiO)(OH)·6HO, used to make tobacco pipes and other heat-resistant items; hydrous magnesium silicate; sepiolite
a pipe with a bowl made of this

Origin: Ger, lit., sea foam (< meer, sea + schaum, foam), transl. of ML spuma maris, orig. used of coral, calque of Gr halos hachnē: name transferred in 18th-c. Ger to a variety of lithomarge

See meerschaum in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A fine, compact, usually white claylike mineral of hydrous magnesium silicate, H₄Mg₂Si₃O₁₀, found in the Mediterranean area and used in fashioning tobacco pipes and as a building stone. Also called sepiolite.
A tobacco pipe with a bowl made of this mineral.

Origin:

Origin: German

Origin: : Meer, sea (from Middle High German mer, from Old High German mari; see mori- in Indo-European roots)

Origin: + Schaum, foam (from Middle High German schūm, from Old High German scūm; see (s)keu- in Indo-European roots)

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