Standard Lemma guide

pitchblende

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • UK: /ˈpɪtʃblɛnd/
  • rhymes with -ɛnd
  • CMU ARPABET: P IH1 CH B L EH2 N D Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Naturally-occurring uranium oxide, a variety of the mineral uraninite.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: chemistry, geography, geology, mineralogy, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a mineral consisting of uranium oxide and trace amounts of radium and thorium and polonium and lead and helium; uraninite in massive form is called pitchblende which is the chief uranium ore

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: uraninite

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: uranium ore

History

Etymology

From German Pechblende, from Pech (“pitch”) + Blende (“blende”).

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: пехбленда (pehblenda) — a type of uraninite
  • Bulgarian: уранит (uranit) — a type of uraninite
  • Finnish: pikivälke — a type of uraninite
  • French: pechblende — a type of uraninite
  • German: Pechblende — a type of uraninite
  • Italian: pechblenda — a type of uraninite
  • Russian: уранини́т (uraninít) — a type of uraninite
  • Russian: ура́новая смо́лка (uránovaja smólka) — a type of uraninite
  • Russian: смоляна́я обма́нка (smoljanája obmánka) — a type of uraninite