Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Basalt
Ba-salt′
,Noun.
[L.
basaltes
(an African word), a dark and hard species of marble found in Ethiopia: cf. F. basalte
.] 1.
(Geol.)
A rock of igneous origin, consisting of augite and triclinic feldspar, with grains of magnetic or titanic iron, and also bottle-green particles of olivine frequently disseminated.
☞ It is usually of a greenish black color, or of some dull brown shade, or black. It constitutes immense beds in some regions, and also occurs in veins or dikes cutting through other rocks. It has often a prismatic structure as at the Giant’s Causeway, in Ireland, where the columns are as regular as if the work of art. It is a very tough and heavy rock, and is one of the best materials for macadamizing roads.
2.
An imitation, in pottery, of natural basalt; a kind of black porcelain.
Webster 1828 Edition
Basalt
BASALT'
,Noun.
A dark, grayish black mineral or stone, sometimes bluish or brownish black, and when withered,the surface is grayish or reddish brown. It is amorphous, columnar, tabular or globular. The columnar form is straight or curved, perpendicular or inclined, sometimes nearly horizontal; the diameter of the columns from three 47
inches to three feet, sometimes with transverse semi-spherical joints, in which the convex part of one is inserted in the concavity of another. The forms of the columns generally are pentagonal, hexagonal, or octagonal. It is sometimes found also in rounded masses, either spherical, or compressed and lenticular. These rounded masses are sometimes composed of concentric layers, with a nucleus, and sometimes of prisms radiating from a center. It is heavy and hard. The pillars of the Giant's causey in Ireland, composed of this stone and exposed to the roughest sea for ages, have their angles as perfect as those at a distance from the waves. The English miners call it cockle; the German, shorl,or shoerl. It is called by Kirwan, Figurate Trap, from its prismatic forms.
Definition 2024
Basalt
Basalt
basalt
basalt
See also: Basalt
English
A basalt rock.
Noun
basalt (plural basalts)
- (mineralogy) A hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, it makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.
- A type of unglazed pottery.
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
- flood basalt
Derived terms
Terms derived from basalt
Translations
hard rock
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Anagrams
References
- ↑ Beekes (2010) Etymological Dictionary of Ancient Greek 203; Erman & Grapow (1971) Worterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache, 471
Faroese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [paˈsal̥t]
Etymology
From Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian
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bauhan 'slate'.
Noun
basalt n (genitive singular basalts, uncountable)
- (mineralogy) A hard rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, it makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.
Declension
| n3s | Singular | |
| Indefinite | Definite | |
| Nominative | basalt | basaltið |
| Accusative | basalt | basaltið |
| Dative | basalti | basaltinum |
| Genitive | basalts | basaltsins |
Synonyms
- blágrýti n
Etymology
From Late Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian [script needed] (bḫn, “a hard stone”)[1]
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Pronunciation
- (Canada) IPA(key): /ˈbæsɒlt/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbæsəlt/
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbasɔːlt/, IPA(key): /ˈbas(ə)lt/
- (US) IPA(key): /bəˈsɑːlt/, IPA(key): /ˈbeɪsɔːlt/
- Hyphenation: bas‧alt