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n. Any of various medium-grained to coarse-grained metamorphic rocks composed of laminated, often flaky parallel layers of chiefly micaceous minerals. [French schiste, from Latin (lapis) schistos, fissile (stone), a kind of iron ore, from Greek skhistos, split, divisible, from skhizein, to split; see skei- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] schistose′ (shĭstōs′), schistous (-təs) adj.  (click for a larger image) schist |
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