granite
English
Etymology
From French granit (“granite”), from Italian granito (“granite”), from granire (“to granulate”), from grano (“grain”), from Latin grānum (“grain”). Compare granita.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡɹæ.nɪt/
Audio (US): (file) - Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "rare" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈɡɹæ.naɪt/
Noun
granite (countable and uncountable, plural granites)
- (petrology) A group of igneous and plutonic rocks composed primarily of feldspar and quartz. Usually contains one or more dark minerals, which may be mica, pyroxene, or amphibole. Granite is quarried for building stone, road gravel, decorative stone, and tombstones. Common colors are gray, white, pink, and yellow-brown.
- (uncountable, figurative) Toughness; the quality of having a thick skin or being rough.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 18, in The China Governess[1]:
- ‘Then the father has a great fight with his terrible conscience,’ said Munday with granite seriousness. ‘Should he make a row with the police […]? Or should he say nothing about it and condone brutality for fear of appearing in the newspapers?
- 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club[2]:
- The neighbor is eventually able to sell her home despite Homer’s pants-less affronts to propriety and decency and Bart falls deeply and instantly for one of its new inhabitants, a tough but charming and funny tomboy girl named Laura (voiced by Sara Gilbert) with just the right combination of toughness and sweetness, granite and honey.
Hyponyms
- (rock): syenite
Derived terms
Translations
type of rock
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See also
Anagrams
Italian
Noun
granite f
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵerh₂-
- English terms borrowed from French
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Italian
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Rocks
- English terms with quotations
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian noun forms