Amphibole
An extensive mineral supergroup of double-chain silicates, including species commonly called hornblende and actinolite.
Language and route: French ← Ancient Greek. Greek ἀμφίβολος (amphíbolos), ‘ambiguous, doubtful’, entered modern science in Haüy’s mineral classification.
Literal gloss: ambiguous
The name and its history
René Just Haüy · 1801 (historical attribution)
- What does the word literally mean?
- The transmitted name is Greek ἀμφίβολος (amphíbolos), ‘ambiguous, doubtful’, entered modern science in Haüy’s mineral classification. The short gloss ‘ambiguous’ is a guide to the naming allusion, not by itself a modern mineralogical definition.
- What did the original author mean?
- Haüy’s circa-1801 amphibole applied to a difficult-to-separate class around hornblende and neighbouring minerals, not to today’s formally specified supergroup.
- Why was the name needed?
- Mineralogists had trouble distinguishing dark amphiboles from pyroxenes and schorl-like minerals by external appearance and conflicting descriptions.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Crystal habit, cleavage and optical appearance, with incomplete chemical information, drove the original ambiguity.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- The IMA’s 2012 nomenclature formalised a complex supergroup and root-name scheme. An amphibole group name is not one species.
Further historical context
Haüy’s circa-1801 amphibole applied to a difficult-to-separate class around hornblende and neighbouring minerals, not to today’s formally specified supergroup.
Mineralogists had trouble distinguishing dark amphiboles from pyroxenes and schorl-like minerals by external appearance and conflicting descriptions.
Crystal habit, cleavage and optical appearance, with incomplete chemical information, drove the original ambiguity.
The IMA’s 2012 nomenclature formalised a complex supergroup and root-name scheme. An amphibole group name is not one species.
Related names
Hornblende · Pyroxene · Augite · Biotite
Sources
- Revheim, The Amphibole Supergroup — historical review — Haüy’s original ambiguous category distinguished from current supergroup
- Mindat, Amphibole Supergroup — Root meaning, historical usage, modern group structure
- Hawthorne et al. (2012), Nomenclature of the amphibole supergroup — Current amphibole nomenclature and root-name conventions
- IMA–CNMNC, List of Mineral Names (updated September 2026) — Contemporary mineral-species standing; consult live master list