adamant
English
Alternative forms
- adamaunt (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English adamant, adamaunt, from Latin adamantem, accusative singular form of adamās (“hard as steel”), from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas, “invincible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + δαμάζω (damázō, “I tame”) or of Semitic origin.
Pronunciation
Adjective
adamant (comparative more adamant, superlative most adamant)
- (said of people and their conviction) Firm; unshakeable; unyielding; determined.
- 2002, Charles Moncrief, Wildcatters: The True Story of how Conspiracy, Greed and the IRS ..., page 195:
- Broiles and Kirkley were adamant about getting out of the lawsuit, but Mike and Dee were equally adamant about not wanting to sign a letter of apology
- 2006, Cara E. C. Vermaak, Confessions of the Dyslexic Virgin, page 275:
- Johan is determined to play the field and adamant about never committing.
- 2010, Deeanne Gist, Maid to Match, page 94:
- What good would such foolishness do a mountain man? But Pa had been adamant. Just as he'd been adamant about their reading, writing, numbers, geography, and languages. Just as he'd been adamant about using proper grammar
- (of an object) Very difficult to break, pierce, or cut.
- 1956, Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, page 34:
- Unprotected matter, however adamant, would have been ground to dust ages ago.
Synonyms
- See also Thesaurus:obstinate
Translations
determined; unshakeable; unyielding
References
- “adamant”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Noun
adamant (plural adamants)
- An imaginary rock or mineral of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness.
- 1582, Robert Parsons, chapter 8, in The first booke of the Christian exercise, appertayning to resolution[1], G. Flinton:
- This then is and alwayes hath ben the fashion of Worldlinges, & reprobate persons, to harden their hartes as an adamant stone, against anye thinge that shalbe tolde the for amendement of their lives, and for the savinge of their soules.
- An embodiment of impregnable hardness.
- A magnet; a lodestone.
- 1594–96, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream:
- You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant:
- But yet you draw not iron, for all my heart
- Is true as steel. Leave you your power to draw,
- And I shall have no power to follow you.
- 1594–96, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream:
Translations
rock or mineral
|
embodiment of hardness
Derived terms
- adamance (noun)
- adamantane (adjective)
- adamantean (adjective)
- adamantine (adjective)
- adamantly (adverb)
References
- “adamant”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Cornish
Etymology
Pronunciation
Noun
adamant m (plural adamantow)
Irish
Noun
adamant f (genitive singular adamainte, nominative plural adamaintí)
- Alternative form of adhmaint (“adamant, lodestone; magnet”)
Declension
Declension of adamant
Bare forms
|
Forms with the definite article
|
Mutation
Irish mutation | |||
---|---|---|---|
Radical | Eclipsis | with h-prothesis | with t-prothesis |
adamant | n-adamant | hadamant | not applicable |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “adamant”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
Latin
Verb
(deprecated template usage) adamant
Middle English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin adamantem, accusative of adamās, from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas). Compare adamas.
Pronunciation
Noun
adamant (plural adamants)
- adamant, adamantine (valuable gemstone)
- An invulnerable or indomitable object
- A natural magnet; magnetite.
Related terms
Descendants
References
- “adama(u)nt (n.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-11.
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- enm:Gems
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