stalactite - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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

sta·lac·tite

Audio Help [stuh-lak-tahyt, stal-uh

k-tahyt] Pronunciation Key

–noun

a deposit, usually of calcium carbonate, shaped like an icicle, hanging from the roof of a cave or the like, and formed by the dripping of percolating calcareous water.

[Origin: 1670–80; < NL stalactites < Gk stalakt(ós) dripping (stalag-, s. of stalássein to drip + -tos verbid suffix) + NL -ites -ite¹

]

—Related forms

stal·ac·tit·ic

Audio Help [stal-uh

k-tit-ik] Pronunciation Key, stal·ac·tit·i·cal, adjective

stal·ac·tit·i·cal·ly, adverb

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

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
stalactite

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

sta·lac·tite Audio Help (stə-lāk'tīt', stāl'ək-) Pronunciation Key
n. An icicle-shaped mineral deposit, usually calcite or aragonite, hanging from the roof of a cavern, formed from the dripping of mineral-rich water.

[New Latin stalactītēs, from Greek stalaktos, dripping, from stalassein, stalak-, to drip.]

sta·lac'ti·form' adj., stal'ac·tit'ic (stāl'āk-tĭt'ĭk, stə-lāk'-) adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
stalactite

1677, Anglicized from Mod.L. stalactites (used 1654 by Olaus Wormius), from Gk. stalaktos "dripping," from stalassein "to trickle," from PIE base *stag- "to seep, drip, drop" (cf. Ger. stallen, Lith. telziu "to urinate").

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

stalactite
noun
a cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from the roof of a limestone cave

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
stalactite [ˈstӕləktait, (American) stəˈlӕktait] noun

a spike of limestone hanging from the roof of a cave etc formed by the dripping of water containing lime

Arabic:	هَابِطه:عَمود من تَرَسُّبات كَربونات الكالسيوم هابِطَ
Chinese (Simplified):	钟乳石
Chinese (Traditional):	鐘乳石
Czech:	stalaktit
Danish:	stalaktit
Dutch:	stalactiet
Estonian:	stalaktiit
Finnish:	tippukivipuikko
French:	stalactite
German:	der Stalaktit
Greek:	σταλακτίτης
Hungarian:	függő cseppkő
Icelandic:	dropasteinn
Indonesian:	stalaktit
Italian:	stalattite

Japanese:	しょう乳石
Korean:	종유석
Latvian:	stalaktīts
Lithuanian:	stalaktitas
Norwegian:	(hengende) dryppstein
Polish:	stalaktyt
Portuguese (Brazil):	estalactite
Portuguese (Portugal):	estalactite
Romanian:	stalactită
Russian:	сталактит
Slovak:	stalaktit
Slovenian:	stalaktit
Swedish:	stalaktit
Turkish:	sarkıt

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

stalactite Audio Help (stə-lāk'tīt') Pronunciation Key
A cylindrical or conical mineral deposit projecting downward from the roof of a cave or cavern, formed by the dripping of water saturated with minerals. Stalactites form gradually as the minerals precipitate out of the saturated water. They usually consist of calcite but can also consist of other minerals. Compare stalagmite.

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

Stalactite

Sta*lac"tite\, n.; pl. Stalactites. [Gr. ? oozing out in drops, dropping, fr. ? to drop: cf. F. stalactite.] (Geol.) (a) A pendent cone or cylinder of calcium carbonate resembling an icicle in form and mode of attachment. Stalactites are found depending from the roof or sides of caverns, and are produced by deposition from waters which have percolated through, and partially dissolved, the overlying limestone rocks. (b) In an extended sense, any mineral or rock of similar form and origin; as, a stalactite of lava.

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