Well attestedNamed from the place
fayalite
noun · first attested 1840
The mineral is named for an Azorean island where it probably never occurred naturally.
The iron-rich end member of the olivine series, Fe2SiO4.
38.5769°N -28.7028°W · Q657187
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1840
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Faial Island
- In English
fayalite
The name was published in 1840 for Faial in the Azores, on the belief that the material came from a local volcanic rock. The Handbook of Mineralogy records that the original material was almost certainly furnace slag carried ashore as ship's ballast. The name stuck anyway, and fayalite is now a standard term for iron olivine in rhyolites, obsidians and quartz syenites worldwide.
Portugal
All 3 entries