Definition

A type of garnet that is black in color, often used as a gemstone.

Example

The jeweler showed me a beautiful necklace made with melanite garnets.

Conversation

Have you ever seen a piece of melanite before?

No, I haven't. What does it look like?

It's a beautiful black variety of garnet, really striking.

That sounds amazing! I'd love to check it out.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Root Explanation

**Melanite** → It is formed from "melas" (Greek, meaning black) and "-ite" (a suffix used in mineralogy to denote a type of mineral). The word "melanite" refers to a black variety of the mineral andesite.

Memory Tip

Think of the Greek word for black, 'melas', to remember that 'melanite' is a type of black mineral.

Visually Confused Words