basalt English · revision 375

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbæs.ɒlt/, /ˈbæs.əlt/ ''(UK)''; /bəˈsɔlt/, /ˈbæs.ɔlt/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|basaltēs]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) a manuscript misreading of Latin ''basanītēs'' “a very hard stone, touchstone”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|grc|βασανίτης|tr=basanítēs]], from ''básanos'' “touchstone; test”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) of Egyptian origin, from a word for “slate”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) In Pliny's text ''basaniten'' became ''basalten'' by mistake.^(Etymonline) The word is not connected with [[salt]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A hard, dark igneous rock of compact texture (1601).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline) From ''básanos'' Greek also formed ''basanízein'', “to put to the test, cross-examine, torture”.^(Etymonline) In English the name was applied to the dark volcanic rock of lava flows, often in columnar form,^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) and from 1832 also to a black unglazed stoneware invented by Josiah Wedgwood.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1601 – ''basaltes'', the rock.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1769 – attributive, as ''basalt rock''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1832 – Wedgwood's black porcelain.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A hard, dense, dark [[volcanic]] rock composed chiefly of [[plagioclase]] and [[pyroxene]], often with a glassy look or a columnar structure.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A kind of hard, black, unglazed [[pottery]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[basaltic]]

+ * [[basaltware]]

+ * [[trachybasalt]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[touchstone]]

+ * [[granite]]

+ * [[lava]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}