steatite

See also: stéatite

English

Etymology

From Latin steatītis, from Ancient Greek. By surface analysis, steat- (“fat”) +‎ -ite (“stone”).

Noun

steatite (countable and uncountable, plural steatites)

1. (mineralogy) soapstone (often synonymous; more information at soapstone § Terminology).
   • 1876, "Burmah" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 556:

     Though a certain kind of paper is manufactured from bamboo pulp, the usual material of the books is the palm leaf, while for ordinary notebook purposes a kind of black tablet, called a parabeik, and a steatite pencil are employed.

Related terms

English terms prefixed with steato-

Translations

soapstone — see also soapstone

• French: stéatite (fr) f
• German: Steatit

Further reading

• steatite on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Steatite”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “steatite”, in Mindat.org‎^[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.