basalt
/bəˈsɔːlt/
noun
Origin
Ancient Greek
basanitēs — a type of dark stone used as a touchstone
Overview
Meaning Now
- A dark-colored, fine-grained, igneous volcanic rock formed from the rapid cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich lava.
Literal older meaning
a very hard stone
Language path
Egyptian → Ancient Greek → Latin → Late Latin → English
Earliest form
basaltes
Earliest period
16th century
Journey
The term originated as a reference to a specific dark stone found in Ethiopia (Aethiopia) used for testing gold purity. It was later misapplied in Renaissance geology to the volcanic rock now known as basalt.
Evolution
- Ancient Egypt
bau
“stone”
Hypothetical source for the later Greek term.
- Ancient Greek
basanos
“touchstone”
Used to test the purity of gold.
- Latin
basaltes
“a dark variety of marble or stone”
Adopted into technical Latin from Greek.
- 17th century English
basalt
“hard volcanic rock”
Standardized geological term.
Connections
Word parts
basalt
root
dark stone
Related across languages
French
basalte
basalt
German
basalt
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Related to basalt
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.