basalt

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbæs.ɒlt/, /ˈbæs.əlt/ (UK); /bəˈsɔlt/, /ˈbæs.ɔlt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin basaltēs,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a manuscript misreading of Latin basanītēs “a very hard stone, touchstone”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos) “touchstone; test”,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} of Egyptian origin, from a word for “slate”.^[2][3][4][5] In Pliny's text basaniten became basalten by mistake.^[4] The word is not connected with salt.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A hard, dark igneous rock of compact texture (1601).^[7][3][5][4]

Semantic evolution

The Egyptians used a dark slate as a touchstone for gold: the assayer compared the streak left by a supposed gold object with that of real gold or baser metals.^[4] From básanos Greek also formed basanízein, “to put to the test, cross-examine, torture”.^[4] In English the name was applied to the dark volcanic rock of lava flows, often in columnar form,^[7][8] and from 1832 also to a black unglazed stoneware invented by Josiah Wedgwood.^[7][2]

Timeline

• 1601 – basaltes, the rock.^[7][3][5]
• 1769 – attributive, as basalt rock.^[7]
• 1832 – Wedgwood's black porcelain.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A hard, dense, dark volcanic rock composed chiefly of plagioclase and pyroxene, often with a glassy look or a columnar structure.
2. A kind of hard, black, unglazed pottery.

Word family

• basaltic
• basaltware
• trachybasalt

Related words

• touchstone
• granite
• lava

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House