sap·phi·rine

(săf′ə-rīn′, -rēn′, sə-fīr′ĭn)

adj.

Of or resembling sapphire.

A rare light blue or green aluminum-magnesium silicate mineral.

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.

sapphirine

(ˈsæfəˌriːn; -rɪn)

1. (Minerals) a rare blue or bluish-green mineral that consists of magnesium aluminium silicate in monoclinic crystalline form and occurs as small grains in some metamorphic rocks

2. (Minerals) a blue variety of spinel

adj

(Minerals) relating to or resembling sapphire

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

sap•phir•ine

(ˈsæf ər ɪn, -əˌrin, -əˌraɪn)

adj.

1. consisting of sapphire.

2. deep blue.

[1375–1425; late Middle English saphyryn (< Old French) « Greek sappheírinos like lapis lazuli (see sapphire, -ine¹)]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	sapphirine - a rare light blue or green mineral; consists of aluminum and magnesium silicate and occurs as small grains in some metamorphic rocks mineral - solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition
Adj.	1.	sapphirine - made of or resembling sapphire

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References in periodicals archive

Sapphirine and Ti-clinohumite in ultra-high-pressure garnet-pyroxenite and eclogite from Dabie Shan, China.

Ti-clinohumite in the Cienaga skarn-type mineralogy, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta Massif (Colombia): occurrence and petrologic significance

The gangue minerals identified comprised of mainly calcite, quartz, epidote, magnetite, muscovite, hydrobiotite, sapphirine and graphite.

Flotation study on scheelite ore of Chitral, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Pakistan

Excellent crystals of xenotime, sapphirine, enstatite and white apatite likewise occur in these parts.

Tucson Show 2005

Kyanite is a typical minor constituent and subsidiary amounts of further high-alumina minerals such as sillimanite, spinel, corundum and sapphirine, sometimes cordierite, have been reported (Slaby 1992a).

Sekaninaite and fingerprint hercynite in South Bohemian granulites

It was further identified by JCP.CAT search/match programme of X-ray Diffractometer D-5000 (Siemens, Germany) that the other peaks corresponded to the gangue minerals which mostly comprised of calcite (CaCO3), epidote [Ca.sub.2], [Al.sub.3] (Si[O.sub.4])([Si.sub.2][O.sub.7]) (O, OH), magnetite ([Fe.sub.3][O.sub.4]), hydrobiotite K[(Mg,Fe).sub.3] (Al, [Si.sub.3][O.sub.10]) (OH, [F).sub.2], muscovite K, [Al.sub.2] (Al, [Si.sub.3] [O.sub.10]) (OH, F), sapphirine [Mg.sub.3.5], [Al.sub.9] [Si.sub.1.5] [O.sub.20] and predominant quantities of quartz (Si[O.sub.2]).

Beneficiation studies on low-grade Tungsten Ore of Chitral, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Pakistan

(1984) Kornerupine and sapphirine crystals from the Harts Range, Central Australia.

Quartz scepter crystals from the Entia Valley, Harts Range, Central Australia