spinel

• spinelle (dated)

French spinelle, perhaps from Latin spina (“a thorn, a prickle”), in allusion to its pointed crystals.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /spɪˈnɛl/, /ˈspɪn.əl/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛl, -ɪnəl

spinel (countable and uncountable, plural spinels)

1. (mineralogy) Any of several hard minerals of cubic symmetry that are mixed oxides of magnesium and aluminium and are used as gemstones of various colours.
   • 2012 March, Lee A. Groat, “Gemstones”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 14 June 2012, page 128:

     Although there are dozens of different types of gems, among the best known and most important are […] . (Common gem materials not addressed in this article include amber, amethyst, chalcedony, garnet, lazurite, malachite, opals, peridot, rhodonite, spinel, tourmaline, turquoise and zircon.)

2. (solid state chemistry) Any crystalline material, not necessarily an oxide, that possesses the same crystal structure as this mineral.
3. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Bleached yarn in making the linen tape called inkle; unwrought inkle.[1]
   • 1894, National Association of Wool Manufacturers, Bulletin, page 175:

     Inkle [...means] in modern use, a broad linen tape; wrought spinel.

• selenospinel
• sulfospinel

• ruby

• David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Spinel”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “spinel”, in Mindat.org‎, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.

• Esplin, L-spine, Pilsen, pinsel, spline

• spinl, spinil, spindel, spindle

From Proto-West Germanic *spinnilu.

• IPA^(key): /ˈspi.nel/

spinel f

1. spindle

• mulne spinel

• Middle English: spyndel, spyndylle, spyndell, spindelle, spyndle, spindil, spyndill, spyndul, spindel, spinle, spindle
  • English: spindle, spinnel
  • Scots: spinnell, spindill

Borrowed from French spinelle.

spinel m (plural spineli)

1. spinel