selenite

[ sel-uh-nahyt, si-lee-nahyt ]

/ ˈsɛl əˌnaɪt, sɪˈli naɪt /

Mineralogy. a variety of gypsum, found in transparent crystals and foliated masses.

Chemistry. a salt of selenious acid.

Origin of selenite

1560–70; < Latin selēnītēs < Greek selēnī́tēs líthos moonstone; see Selene, -ite¹

sel·e·nit·ic

[sel-uh-nit-ik] /ˌsɛl əˈnɪt ɪk/, sel·e·nit·i·cal, adjective

Selenic acid may be obtained in solution by deflagrating selenium or a selenite with potassic nitrate.

Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II |Arnold Cooley
The first greenhouses, those invented by Tiberius, were covered with selenite.

The Boy's Playbook of Science |John Henry Pepper
Selenite, in all probability, was not used in pre-Spanish times.

A Study of Pueblo Architecture: Tusayan and Cibola |Victor Mindeleff and Cosmos Mindeleff
The selenite waxed and waned with the moon, and the meloceus, that discovers thieves, could be affected only by the blood of kids.

The Picture of Dorian Gray |Oscar Wilde

For gorgets the Sikyatki people apparently prized slabs of lignite (plate clxxii, d) and plates of selenite.

Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 |Jesse Walter Fewkes

selenite

/ (ˈsɛlɪˌnaɪt) /

a colourless glassy variety of gypsum

C17: via Latin from Greek selēnitēs lithos moonstone, from selēnē moon; so called because it was believed to wax and wane with the moon