Etymology

smectite

S1M3E1C3T1I1T1E1

Today it means: Any of many clay phyllosilicate minerals that have a relatively open structure. Full definition →

Ancient Greek σμήχω
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromσμήχω“to rub off”
  2. English todaysmectite

From Ancient Greek σμήχω (smḗkhō, “to rub off”) + -ite.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.