Malachite, Andalusite, Pyrite, Benstonite, &c.
In: Earth Science
^*Edited ^some ^stuff ^for ^clarity*
It’s from the Ancient Greek suffix -ιτης. It’s a (masculine) suffix to create nouns that denote the person has those characteristics.
Όπλον/hoplon (shield) -> Οπλίτης/hoplite (he who carries a shield)
It came to be used for minerals because plenty of them already had a name like that:
Μαλάχη/Malache (a plant, Malva sylvestris) ->Μαλαχίτης/Malachite (he who looks like a Malache)
αίμα/hema (blood) -> Αιματίτης/Hematite (he who looks like blood)
And so on. The reason they’re masculine is because they’re used to describe the word λίθος/lithos (stone), a masculine word (itself responsible for the -lith suffix in other minerals)
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