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Webster 1913 Edition


Oolite

O′o-lite

,
Noun.
[Gr.
ω,ὄν
an egg +
-lite
: cf. F.
ooithe
. So named from its resemblance to the roe of fish.]
(Geol.)
A variety of limestone, consisting of small round grains, resembling the roe of a fish. It sometimes constitutes extensive beds, as in the European Jurassic. See the Chart of
Geology
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Oolite

O'OLITE

,
Noun.
[Gr. an egg, and stone, from its resemblance to the roes of fish.]
Egg-stone, a variety of concreted carbonate of lime; oviform limestone.

Definition 2024


oolite

oolite

See also: oölite

English

Noun

oolite (countable and uncountable, plural oolites)

  1. (geology) A rock consisting of spherical grains within a mineral cortex accreted around a nucleus, often of quartz grains.
    • 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 170:
      Here and there are beds of oolites, for example, made of little rounded grains – like millet seed – that form only in agitated warm waters, such as you might find off the Bahamas today.
  2. (countable, rare) An ooid or oolith.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations


Italian

Etymology

oo- + -lite

Noun

oolite m (plural ooliti)

  1. oolite; oolith