castellite

Cas·tel·lite
C3A1S1T1E1L1L1I1T1E1

noun

A clear yellow form of the crystalline mineral titanite or sphene, occurring in very small, thin, tubular crystals.

Scrabble 12

Meanings

castellite1

nouncastellite (plural castellites)

plural castellites

  1. A clear yellow form of the crystalline mineral titanite or sphene, occurring in very small, thin, tubular crystals.

Castellite2

nounCastellite (plural Castellites)

plural Castellites

  1. A religious group in western North Carolina during the late 19th century. Mormon missionaries encountered them and found that they were enemies, not converts.
    1 more example

    Of late years Mormon missionaries from Utah have reaped a rich harvest in this region, and in parts of Swain and Haywood counties a peculiar sect, known as Castellites, has arisen whose exercises seem to be of a highly emotional character, as it is a common remark that every one who joins the Castellites goes crazy.

    1913, Horace Kephart, Our Southern Highlanders
  2. A resident of Castelle,Texas.

    Life here was not easy. For the first couple of years, Castellites depended heavily on supplies and support from the people of Fredericksburg, who had problems enough of their own. A round trip to Fredericksburg—about 50 miles—took 4 days.

    2001, Richard Zelade, Hill Country

Origin

castellite · noun

From Castelli + -ite, from the surname of its discoverer, Herr Bergverwalter Castelli.

Full word history & related roots →

Castellite · noun

Possibly from a very brief 19th-century Mormon settlement in Castell, Texas, which, like all Mormon communities, sent out missionaries. Identifying "Utah" as the source of the Castellite missionaries in the quote below may have been based on the common contemporaneous assumption that all Mormons were based in Utah.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

castellite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castellite

MLA

“castellite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castellite. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “castellite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/castellite.

Source: castellite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.