Albite
The sodium-rich end-member NaAlSi₃O₈ of the plagioclase feldspar series.
Language and route: Scientific Swedish/German usage ← Latin. The name employs Latin albus, ‘white’, in nineteenth-century European mineralogical terminology.
Literal gloss: white
The name and its history
J. G. Gahn and J. J. Berzelius · 1815
- What does the word literally mean?
- The transmitted name is The name employs Latin albus, ‘white’, in nineteenth-century European mineralogical terminology. The short gloss ‘white’ is a guide to the naming allusion, not by itself a modern mineralogical definition.
- What did the original author mean?
- Gahn and Berzelius introduced the name in 1815, alluding to the characteristic white appearance of their material.
- Why was the name needed?
- Early chemical mineralogy increasingly needed compositional divisions among previously broad descriptive feldspar classes.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Colour and distinct materials from Sweden and Germany were early identifiers; systematic chemical analyses distinguished sodium-bearing feldspars.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Albite is a chemically and structurally defined end-member: many albite crystals are not pure white, and not every white feldspar is albite.
Further historical context
Gahn and Berzelius introduced the name in 1815, alluding to the characteristic white appearance of their material.
Early chemical mineralogy increasingly needed compositional divisions among previously broad descriptive feldspar classes.
Colour and distinct materials from Sweden and Germany were early identifiers; systematic chemical analyses distinguished sodium-bearing feldspars.
Albite is a chemically and structurally defined end-member: many albite crystals are not pure white, and not every white feldspar is albite.
Related names
Anorthite · Plagioclase · Feldspar · Oligoclase · Labradorite · Andesine · Bytownite
Sources
- Mindat, Albite — Gahn and Berzelius (1815) — White-colour etymology and sodium-plagioclase identity
- Mindat, Anorthite — Rose (1823) — Greek not-right-angle; original Mount Somma context
- IMA–CNMNC, List of Mineral Names (updated September 2026) — Contemporary mineral-species standing; consult live master list