A mineral, specifically zinc sulfide (sphalerite), often found in metallic ore deposits and valued for zinc extraction.
From German 'Blende,' literally meaning 'deceiver,' because the mineral resembles lead ore (galena) but yields different metals, historically tricking miners into thinking they'd found more valuable ore.
Miners called this mineral 'Blende' (deceiver) because it looked like the silvery galena they wanted but actually contained zinc—which makes perfect sense since the mineral literally deceives you by its appearance!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.