melatope

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noun

An eye shape of concentric coloured optical fringes seen on a conoscopic interference pattern surrounding an optical axis. For biaxial minerals there are a pair of circles, like eyes.

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Meanings

nounmelatope (plural melatopes)

plural melatopes

  1. microscopychemistryAn eye shape of concentric coloured optical fringes seen on a conoscopic interference pattern surrounding an optical axis. For biaxial minerals there are a pair of circles, like eyes.

Origin

Coined by A. Johannsen on page 420 in A Manual of Petrographic Methods McGraw-Hill 1918

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

meatpole
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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