Meanings
nounpyroxene (plural pyroxenes)
plural pyroxenes
- chemistryAny of a group of crystalline minerals containing silicates of iron, magnesium and calcium.
By the pathside, there are occasional large boulders that shown black crystals the size of a fingernail; these are pyroxene minerals that had time to crystallise out deep within the chamber of liquid rock – or magma – beneath the volcano.
2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 10
Origin
- Ancient Greekξένος“stranger”
- Frenchpyroxène
- Englishpyroxene
From French pyroxène, from pyro- + Ancient Greek ξένος (xénos, “stranger”).
More words from French, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan piroxè
- piroxèmineral
Chinese Cantonese 輝石 /辉石
- 輝石 /辉石mineral
Chinese Mandarin 輝石 /辉石
- 輝石 /辉石 (huīshí)mineral
Estonian pürokseen
- pürokseenmineral
Finnish pyrokseeni
- pyrokseenimineral
French pyroxène
- pyroxènemineral
German Pyroxen
- Pyroxenmineral
Greek πυρόξενος
- πυρόξενος (pyróxenos)mineral
Hungarian piroxén
- piroxénmineral
Icelandic pýroxen
- pýroxenmineral
Indonesian piroksen
- piroksenmineral
Italian pirosseno
- pirossenomineral
Japanese 輝石
- 輝石 (kiseki)mineral
Polish piroksen
- piroksenmineral
Portuguese piroxena, piroxeno
- piroxenamineral
- piroxenomineral
- piroxéniomineral
- piroxêniomineral
Romanian piroxen
- piroxenmineral
Russian пироксе́н
- пироксе́н (piroksén)mineral
Spanish piroxeno
- piroxenomineral
Turkish piroksen
- piroksenmineral
Cite this entry
APA
pyroxene. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroxene
MLA
“pyroxene.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroxene. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pyroxene,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pyroxene.
Source: pyroxene on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.