quartz

quartz — noun

1. a common mineral found in the earth's crust that forms clear or coloured crystal

1.nounB1
Definition

a common mineral found in the earth's crust that forms clear or coloured crystals; it is used in electronics and watches because its crystals vibrate at a fixed speed when electricity passes through them

Example

The old watch on Abigail's wrist had a tiny quartz crystal inside that kept the time perfectly.

quartz crystal in watches

Miners discovered a large piece of clear quartz in the cave near Soraya's village.

Common collocations
  • quartz crystal
  • clear quartz / rose quartz / smoky quartz
  • quartz watch / quartz clock
  • quartz vein
  • quartz countertop
Synonyms
  • crystal

    much broader term — any solid with a regular atomic structure, not specific to quartz

  • silica

    refers to the chemical compound SiO₂ rather than the mineral form; quartz is one type of silica

  • rock crystal

    narrower — specifically clear, colourless quartz, often used in jewellery

Usage Note

Quartz is typically uncountable when referring to the mineral in general ('a vein of quartz'), but it can be used countably when referring to individual crystals ('quartz crystals from the mine'). It frequently appears as an attributive noun before another noun: 'quartz watch', 'quartz clock', 'quartz countertop'.

Common Mistakes

Quartz is a type of plastic used in watches.
Quartz is a natural mineral crystal used in watches.
Quartz is a natural rock material found in the earth's crust, not a synthetic plastic.
My watch runs on a quartz.
My watch has a quartz movement.
'Quartz' alone is not a countable power source; use 'quartz crystal' or 'quartz movement' instead.

Word family

  • quartzose
    adjectiveC2
  • quartzitic
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Quartz, crystal, silica, and rock crystal are easily confused but differ in scope. Quartz is a specific mineral — silicon dioxide (SiO₂) — that is abundant in the earth's crust and forms hard hexagonal crystals. Crystal is a far broader term describing any solid with a regular atomic structure; salt, diamond, ice, and quartz are all crystals, so calling something 'crystal' tells you about its structure, not its composition. Silica is the chemical compound SiO₂, which appears in many forms — quartz is one crystalline form, but silica also exists as non-crystalline sand, opal, and glass. Rock crystal is a gemological term for pure, colourless, transparent quartz. In practice: a 'crystal watch' could use any crystal technology, a 'quartz watch' specifically uses quartz, and 'rock crystal' appears in jewellery descriptions rather than technical contexts.

quartz ↗crystal ↗silicarock crystal

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • piece of quartz
  • vein of quartz
  • lump of quartz

Etymology

West SlavicGermanEnglish

The word 'quartz' entered English from German in the 1600s. The German 'Quarz' likely came from a West Slavic source related to words meaning 'hard' — a fitting origin for this very hard mineral.