Definition of "calcite" [cal•cite]

• A common crystalline form of natural calcium carbonate, CaCO3, that is the basic constituent of limestone, marble, and chalk. Also called calcspar. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The calcite is basically floating in solution around the shell, and it deposits on the shell like a forming crystal."
• "The name calcite (Lat. _calx_, _calcis_, meaning burnt lime) is of comparatively recent origin, and was first applied, in 1836, to the"
• "The latter mode of origin is suggested by the frequent occurrence of calamine pseudomorphous after calcite, that is, having the form of calcite crystals."