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aphanite

American  
[af-uh-nahyt] / ˈæf əˌnaɪt /

noun

Petrography.

  1. a fine-grained igneous rock having such compact texture that the constituent minerals cannot be detected with the naked eye.

aphanite British  
/ ˈæfəˌnaɪt /

noun

  1. any fine-grained rock, such as a basalt, containing minerals that cannot be distinguished with the naked eye

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • aphanitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of aphanite

1860–65; < Greek aphan ( ḗs ) unseen, hidden, invisible ( a- a- 6 + phanēs, adj. derivative of phaínein to bring to light, disclose) + -ite 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Resembling aphanite; having a very fineÐgrained structure.

From Project Gutenberg

The fine-grained compact greenstones are called aphanite.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.