English▸ noun any of a large group of minerals consisting of hydrated aluminosilicates of sodium, potassium, calcium, and barium. They can be readily dehydrated and rehydrated, and are used as cation exchangers and molecular sieves.
– ORIGIN late 18th century: from Swedish and German zeolit, from Greek zein ‘to boil’ + -lite (from their characteristic swelling when heated in the laboratory).