See Also: monazite(dictionary)

monazite (iou)



monazite noun. M19.
[from Greek monazein be solitary (on account of its rarity) + -ITE1.]
Mineralogy. A commercially important monoclinic phosphate of cerium, lanthanum, other rare-earth elements, and thorium, occurring as small brownish crystals, often in detrital sands associated with granites and gneisses.