apatite

noun

ap·​a·​tite ˈa-pə-ˌtīt 

: any of a group of calcium phosphate minerals occurring in various colors as hexagonal crystals, as granular masses, or in fine-grained masses as the chief constituent of phosphate rock and of bones and teeth

especially : calcium phosphate fluoride

Examples of apatite in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To determine what other minerals may have been key players in the ancient oceans, Kirkland hopes to look at rocks called apatites, which contain oxygen and other elements like strontium and phosphorus. —Ars Technica, 28 Feb. 2025

Another pair of intense apatite and diamond earrings take their name and colorful concept from the Sea of Serenity, which is a large dark lava sea located on the Earth-facing side of the Moon. —Kyle Roderick, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024

The analysis revealed the presence of zircon, apatite and rutile grains within the fragments. —Ashley Strickland, CNN, 14 Aug. 2024

These rock particles contain fragile minerals called apatite and rutile that tell scientists about recent geology, as well as zircon, a super sturdy mineral that can let researchers peer billions of years into the past. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2024

But the apatite and rutile grains came from between 458 million and 470 million years ago. —Ashley Strickland, CNN, 14 Aug. 2024

As a crystal of zircon, apatite or rutile forms, trace amounts of radioactive uranium get incorporated into its structure. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2024

The team took samples from two fragments of the Altar Stone and examined the age and chemistry of grains of zircon, apatite, and rutile using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, along with isotopic analysis. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 14 Aug. 2024

Carnivore leavings, for example, tend to be high in calcium phosphate, or apatite, a principal constituent of bone. —Karen Wright, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from German Apatit, from Greek apatáō, apatân "to deceive" (derivative of apátē "deceit, fraud," perhaps of substratal origin) + German -it -ite entry 1

Note: The term was introduced by the German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749-1817). It apparently first appeared, attributed to Werner, in Carl Abraham Gerhard's Grundriss des Mineralsystems (Berlin, 1786), p. 281. Werner himself described the mineral in "Geschichte, Karakteristik, und kurze chemische Untersuchung des Apatits," Bergmännisches Journal, 1. Band, 1. Stück (April, 1788), pp. 76-96. He accounts for the naming of the mineral on pp. 84-85: "Ich wies hierauf diesem Fossile, als einer eigenen Gattung, sogleich eine Stelle in dem Kalkgeschlechte an; und ertheilte ihm, — weil es bisher alle Mineralogen in seiner Bestimmung irre geführt hatte, — den Namen Apatit, den ich von dem griechischen Worte απατάω (decipio) bildete, und welcher so viel als Trügling sagt." ("I thereupon allocated to this fossil [i. e., substance dug out of the earth], as its own genus, a place in the calcium family; and conferred on it—because it had up to now led all mineralogists identifying it astray—the name apatite, which I formed from the Greek word apatáō ([I] deceive) and which says as much as [the word] deceiver.")

First Known Use

1794, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for apatite

• acolyte
• aconite
• allanite
• alunite
• amberlite
• ammonite
• amorite
• amphitrite
• analyte
• anchorite
• andesite
• anhydrite

Kids Definition

apatite

noun

ap·​a·​tite ˈap-ə-ˌtīt 

: any of a group of variously colored minerals that are phosphates of calcium and that are used as a source of phosphorus and its compounds

Medical Definition

apatite

noun

ap·​a·​tite ˈap-ə-ˌtīt 

: any of a group of calcium phosphate minerals occurring variously as hexagonal crystals, as granular masses, or in fine-grained masses as the chief constituent of bones and teeth and of phosphate rock

especially : calcium phosphate fluoride Ca₅F(PO₄)₃