Minerals

How to spell minerals

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce minerals

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does minerals mean?

1. nounNaturally occurring inorganic solids, such as those mined from rock, or the inorganic nutrients the body needs.

Minerals in a sentence

• The region is rich in minerals such as copper and zinc.

• A balanced diet supplies the vitamins and minerals your body requires.

Where does minerals come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word goes back to the Medieval Latin mineralis, an adjective formed from minera, which meant 'ore' or 'mine', the place from which metals and stones were dug out of the ground. English took the word in during the late 1300s and 1400s, by way of Old French mineral, originally to describe any substance obtained by mining. Over time the meaning broadened to cover the whole class of naturally occurring inorganic solids, and later still it was applied to the dietary elements such as iron and calcium that the body needs. The same minera root sits inside the everyday words 'mine' and 'miner', which helps explain the single 'n' in the middle. The spelling is fairly regular, with the only real point of care being the unstressed 'e' in the second syllable that often shrinks to a faint schwa in speech.

How the word is built

• miner- (from Latin minera: ore, mine)
• -al (forming a noun)
• -s (plural)