Diabase - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

di·a·base

Audio Help [dahy-uh-beys] Pronunciation Key

–noun Petrology.

1.	a fine-grained gabbro occurring as minor intrusions.

2.	British. a dark igneous rock consisting essentially of augite and feldspar; an altered dolerite.

[Origin: 1810–20; < F, equiv. to dia- (error for di- two) + base base¹

]

—Related forms

di·a·ba·sic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Diabase

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

di·a·base Audio Help (dī'ə-bās') Pronunciation Key
n. A dark-gray to black, fine-textured igneous rock composed mainly of feldspar and pyroxene and used for monuments and as crushed stone.

[French, partly from Greek diabasis, a crossing over (from diabainein, to pass through or over; see diabetes) and partly from diabase (dia-, two alteration of di-, from Greek di-; see di-¹ + base, basis from Old French; see base¹).]

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

diabase Audio Help (dī'ə-bās') Pronunciation Key
A dark-gray to black, medium-grained igneous rock consisting mainly of labradorite and pyroxene. Diabase is compositionally similar to andesite, but has coarser grains. It is commonly found in sills and dikes. Also called dolerite.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Diabase

Di"a*base\, n. [F. diabase, fr. Gr. ? a crossing or passing over, fr. ?; ? + ? to go; -- so called by Brongniart, because it passes over to diorite.] (Min.) A basic, dark-colored, holocrystalline, igneous rock, consisting essentially of a triclinic feldspar and pyroxene with magnetic iron; -- often limited to rocks pretertiary in age. It includes part of what was early called greenstone.

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