Pyroxene
A mineral group of mostly single-chain silicates including augite, diopside and enstatite.
Language and route: French ← Ancient Greek. Haüy’s French pyroxène uses Greek πῦρ ‘fire’ and ξένος ‘stranger’.
Literal gloss: stranger to fire
The name and its history
René Just Haüy · 1796
- What does the word literally mean?
- The transmitted name is Haüy’s French pyroxène uses Greek πῦρ ‘fire’ and ξένος ‘stranger’. The short gloss ‘stranger to fire’ is a guide to the naming allusion, not by itself a modern mineralogical definition.
- What did the original author mean?
- Haüy introduced pyroxène in 1796 in connection with crystals found in vitreous lava that were thought to be foreign inclusions rather than products of the melt.
- Why was the name needed?
- Early volcanic petrology confronted apparently pre-existing crystals enclosed in lavas; the name encoded an explanation for their presence.
- What evidence supported the original concept?
- Crystals enclosed in glassy lava gave the visual evidence, not an experimentally verified proof they were unrelated to magma.
- How has geology changed the concept?
- Pyroxenes are now understood as common igneous minerals, frequently crystallising directly from melts; the original ‘foreign to fire’ interpretation is not retained.
Further historical context
Haüy introduced pyroxène in 1796 in connection with crystals found in vitreous lava that were thought to be foreign inclusions rather than products of the melt.
Early volcanic petrology confronted apparently pre-existing crystals enclosed in lavas; the name encoded an explanation for their presence.
Crystals enclosed in glassy lava gave the visual evidence, not an experimentally verified proof they were unrelated to magma.
Pyroxenes are now understood as common igneous minerals, frequently crystallising directly from melts; the original ‘foreign to fire’ interpretation is not retained.
Related names
Augite · Enstatite · Diopside · Amphibole · Igneous · Pyroxenite · Norite · Lherzolite · Harzburgite
Sources
- Mindat, Pyroxene Group — Haüy (1796) — Historical ‘stranger to fire’ argument and change to group name
- Morimoto et al. (1988/1989), Nomenclature of pyroxenes — IMA classification of clinopyroxenes and orthopyroxenes
- IMA–CNMNC, List of Mineral Names (updated September 2026) — Contemporary mineral-species standing; consult live master list