Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X, list of scientific terms with Scottish connections).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
MACLURE. After William Maclure (1763–1840), of Ayr, geologist, pioneer of American geology.
Hence 1. Maclur(e)a, (1) a genus of trees of the order Urticales, found in West Africa yielding a dye called Maclurin (1817 T. Nuttall Gen. Plant. N. America II. 233); (2) a synonym of the osage orange of the same family found in Missouri, orig. Toxylon (1818 T. Nuttall Genera Amer. Plants II. 234); (3) as a specif. name for a Raja, or skate from the coasts of Rhode Island (1817 Le Sueur in Jnl. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. I. 41).
2. Maclurite, (1) in Mineral. (i) augite, an aluminous pyroxene (1822 A. Seybert in American Jnl. Science V. 336); (ii) chondrodite (1822 T. Nuttall Ib. V. 246).
(2) in Zool., a fossil gastropod shell of the American blue limestone (1818 Le Sueur in Jnl. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad. I. 312); somewhat sim. gastropods from North America have been more recently called Macluritella, Maclurites, another in Sutherland and Ayrshire is called Maclurina, sub-family name Macluritina.
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"Maclure ". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 18 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/snd00090132>


