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obsidian
7 dictionary results for: Obsidian
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ob·sid·i·an 
[uhb-sid-ee-uhn] Pronunciation Key
[uhb-sid-ee-uhn] Pronunciation Key –noun
| a volcanic glass similar in composition to granite, usually dark but transparent in thin pieces, and having a good conchoidal fracture. |
[Origin: 1350–1400; < L Obsidiānus, printer's error for Obsiānus pertaining to Obsius, the discoverer (according to Pliny) of a similar mineral in Ethiopia; r. ME obsianus < L; see -an]
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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| ob·sid·i·an
(ŏb-sĭd'ē-ən) Pronunciation Key
n. A usually black or banded, hard volcanic glass that displays shiny, curved surfaces when fractured and is formed by rapid cooling of lava. [Latin obsidiānus, misreading of obsiānus (lapis), Obsian (stone), obsidian, after Obsius, a Roman who supposedly discovered it or a similar mineral.] |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
obsidian
obsidian
1656, from L. obsidianus, misprint of obsianus (lapis) "(stone) of Obsius," a Roman alleged by Pliny to have found this rock in Ethiopia.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| obsidian | |
noun | |
| acid or granitic glass formed by the rapid cooling of lava without crystallization; usually dark, but transparent in thin pieces |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| obsidian
(ŏb-sĭd'ē-ən) Pronunciation Key
A shiny, usually black, volcanic glass. Obsidian forms above ground from lava that is similar in composition to the magma from which granite forms underground, but cools so quickly that minerals do not have a chance to form within it.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This
Obsidian, ID Zip code(s): 83340
U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Obsidian
Ob*sid"i*an\, n. [L. Obsidianus lapis, so named, according to Pliny, after one Obsidius, who discovered it in Ethiopia: cf.F. obsidiane, obsidienne. The later editions of Pliny read Obsianus lapis, and Obsius, instead of Obsidianus lapis, and Obsidius.] (Min.) A kind of glass produced by volcanoes. It is usually of a black color, and opaque, except in thin splinters. Note: In a thin section it often exhibits a fluidal structure, marked by the arrangement of microlites in the lines of the flow of the molten mass.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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