A mineral or crystalline substance derived from or resembling milk in appearance or composition.
From Greek 'gala' (milk) + -ite (mineral suffix). The -ite suffix became standard in geology for naming minerals, making this a mineralogical term inspired by milk's appearance.
This word shows how scientists in the 1800s named minerals by what they looked like—if something had a milky, opaque appearance, they'd call it something with 'galact-' in it, even if it had nothing to do with actual milk.
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