basalt
UK /ˈbæs.ɒlt/ · US /bəˈsɔlt/ noun, proper noun
Forms basalts
- noun (mineralogy) A hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, which makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.
- noun A type of unglazed pottery.
- proper noun A home rule municipality of Eagle County and Pitkin County, Colorado.
- proper noun A city and town in Bingham County, Idaho.
- proper noun A locality in the Shire of Hepburn, central western Victoria, Australia.
Etymology
From Late Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian bḫn (“a hard stone”), b-x:n-O39
Webster’s 1913
- noun 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.
- noun An imitation, in pottery, of natural basalt; a kind of black porcelain.
Etymology [N. basaltes (an African word), a dark and hard species of marble found in Ethiopia: cf. F. basalte.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “basalt”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details