phyllosilicate

noun

phyl·​lo·​silicate

¦filō+

: a mineral of a class of polymeric silicates in which the silicon-oxygen tetrahedral groups are linked by sharing three of every four oxygen atoms so as to form sheets of indefinite extent, in which the ratio of silicon to oxygen is 2:5, and in which some silicon atoms may be replaced by aluminum (as in mica, chlorite, kaolinite)

called also sheet-silicate

compare cyclosilicate, inosilicate, nesosilicate, sorosilicate, tectosilicate

Word History

Etymology

phyll- + silicate

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