Smoky Quartz
/ˌsmoʊ.ki ˈkwɔːrts/noun
A variety of quartz that is gray to brownish black in color due to natural irradiation.
Did you know?Smoky quartz gets its color from natural radiation in the surrounding rock, which changes defects in the crystal lattice rather than adding an impurity, making it a real geological record of invisible forces.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
krystallos
“ice; clear quartz crystal, believed by some ancient writers to be frozen ice”
Late Latin
Latin
quadratizius / quartz
“a hard mineral name later adopted into European languages; the exact early history of the mineral term is uncertain”
16th Century
German
Quarz
“quartz, the mineral”
18th Century
English
quartz
“the mineral quartz”
19th Century
English
smoky quartz
“quartz of gray to brown smoky coloration”