pissasphalt

English

Alternative forms

• pisasphaltum
• pisasphalt

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pissasphaltus, from Ancient Greek πισσάσφαλτος (pissásphaltos), from πίσσα (píssa, “pitch”) + ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos, “asphalt”).

Noun

pissasphalt (uncountable)

1. (mineralogy) A soft, black, tarry bitumen, intermediate between petroleum and asphalt.
   • 1893, Scientific American: Supplement‎^[1], volume XXXVI, Petroleum and Asphalt in California, page 14739:

     These minerals are intimately incorporated with all asphaltum, pissasphalt and petroleum. […] The impregnated sand, A to B, has a nearly horizontal lamination, but is contorted in places by the ascent of the pissasphalt.

Translations

material

French: pissasphalte (fr)

References

• “pissasphalt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.