1. a yellowish to reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare earth elements and thorium
Usage: geology; mineralogy

Examples

• The geologist identified monazite crystals in the beach sand.
• Monazite is an important source of rare earth elements used in electronics.
• The mining company extracted monazite from the coastal deposits.
• Thorium can be obtained from monazite through chemical processing.
• Heavy mineral sands often contain valuable monazite concentrations.
• The specimen contained well-formed monazite crystals with a distinctive luster.