Min. Also sienite. [ad.F. syénite, G. syenit, ad. L. Syēnītēs (lapis), (stone) of Syene, f. Syēnē, Gr. Συήνη, a town of upper Egypt, the modern Assouan.] A crystalline rock allied to granite, mainly composed of hornblende and feldspar, with or without quartz.
1796. Kirwan, Elem. Min. (ed. 2), I. 341. Sienite. An aggregate of quartz, hornblende, and felspar.
1813. Bakewell, Introd. Geol. (1815), 116. The transitions by which granite passes into sienite, and the latter into porphyry, trap, and basalt.
1842. Sedgwick, in Hudson’s Guide Lakes (1843), 230. The red syenite of Ennerdale and Buttermere.
1854. Hooker, Himal. Jrnls., II. xxix. 297. Enormous rounded blocks of syenite.
b. attrib. and Comb.
1832. De la Beche, Geol. Man. (ed. 2), 267. Granite and sienite mountains.
1835. R. Griffith, in Trans. Geol. Soc. (1840), Ser. II. V. 1ê0. Syenite veins passing through mica slate.
1876. Ellen E. Frewer. trans. Verne’s Adv. 3 Eng. & 3 Russ. S. Afr., viii. 66. Its [sc. the baobab’s] syenite-coloured bark gave it a peculiar appearance.
