breccia

American

[brech-ee-uh, bresh-] / ˈbrɛtʃ i ə, ˈbrɛʃ- /

noun

Petrology.

rock composed of angular fragments of older rocks melded together.

breccia British

/ ˈbrɛtʃɪə /

noun

a rock consisting of angular fragments embedded in a finer matrix, formed by erosion, impact, volcanic activity, etc

"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

breccia Scientific

/ brĕch′ē-ə,brĕch′ə,brĕsh′- /

A rock composed of angular fragments embedded in a fine-grained matrix. Breccias form from explosive volcanic ejections, the compaction of talus, or plate tectonic processes. Breccias are different from conglomerates in that the fragments they contain are angular instead of rounded.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

brecciated

adjective

Etymology

Origin of breccia

1765–75; < Italian < Germanic; compare Old High German brecha breaking

Vocabulary lists containing breccia

Rocks and Minerals - Middle School and High School

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