taaffeite

English

Etymology

Taaffe +‎ -ite, after Edward Charles Richard Taaffe (1898-1967), Irish gemmologist, who discovered it in a sample set of spinel from whence it was miscategorized

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑːfʌɪt/

Noun

taaffeite (plural taaffeites)

1. (mineralogy) A rare mauve gemstone with a hexagonal crystal structure.

Coordinate terms

• spinel

 

Derived terms

• magnesiotaaffeite

 

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Taaffeite”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “taaffeite”, in Mindat.org‎^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.