basaltic

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   geology: relating to, formed from, containing, or resembling basalt

   Basaltic lava spread across the plain and cooled into a dark, fine-grained rock.

Formed from basalt + -ic. Basalt came through Late Latin basaltes, probably an alteration of Latin basanites 'very hard stone,' from Greek basanitēs, related to basanos 'touchstone.' The suffix -ic gives the meaning 'of or relating to basalt.'

Topics