bentonite

English

Etymology

From Benton +‎ -ite, after the place where it was first mined: Fort Benton, Montana.

Noun

bentonite (countable and uncountable, plural bentonites)

1. (mineralogy) Any of several impure clay minerals consisting mostly of montmorillonite.
2. A porous clay formed by the decomposition of volcanic ash that swells 5 to 6 times its original volume in the presence of water.

Synonyms

• E558 when used as an anti-caking agent

Derived terms

• bentonitic
• bentonitization

Translations

Translations

• Catalan: bentonita f
• Dutch: bentoniet (nl) n
• Finnish: bentoniitti (fi)
• French: bentonite (fr) f
• Italian: bentonite (it) f
• Polish: bentonit (pl) m

References

• Krueger, Dennis (December 1982). "Why On Earth Do They Call It Throwing?" Studio Potter Vol. 11, Number 1.[1] (etymology)

Further reading

• David Barthelmy (1997–2025) “Bentonite”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
• “bentonite”, in Mindat.org‎^[2], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2025.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

bentonite f (plural bentonites)

1. (mineralogy) bentonite

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ben.toˈni.te/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ite
• Hyphenation: ben‧to‧nì‧te

Noun

bentonite f (plural bentoniti)

1. (mineralogy) bentonite

Further reading

• bentonite in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana