maceral

See also: macerál

English

Etymology

From Latin mācerō (“macerate”) +‎ -al, after mineral.[1] Coined by British birth control campaigner and paleontologist Marie Stopes in 1935.[2]

Noun

maceral (plural macerals)

  1. A component of coal or oil shale.
    Inertinite, vitrinite and liptinite are macerals.

References

  1. ^ “maceral, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  2. ^ M[arie] C[armichael] Stopes (1935) “On the Petrology of Banded Bituminous Coal”, in Fuel in Science and Practice, volume XIV, London, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 4–13:
    I now propose the new word “Maceral” (from the Latin macerare, to macerate) as a distinctive and comprehensive word tallying with the word “mineral”. Its derivation from the Latin word to “macerate” appears to make it peculiarly applicable to coal, for whatever the original nature of the coals, they now all consist of the macerated fragments of vegetation, accumulated under water.

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