amianthus

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀμίαντος (amíantos, “undefiled”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + μιαίνω (miaínō, “I defile”).

noun

A type of asbestos with long, soft, thin fibers.“the Microscope can afford us hundreds of Instances of Points many thousand times sharper: such as […] the ends of the stiriæ or small parallelipipeds of Amianthus […]”