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plutonic

[ploo-ton-ik]
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adjective Geology.
  1. noting or pertaining to a class of igneous rocks that have solidified far below the earth's surface.
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Origin of plutonic

1790–1800; < Latin Plūtōn- (stem of Plūtō Pluto < Greek Ploútōn) + -ic; orig. referring to the Plutonic theory (see plutonism)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

infernalabyssalcimmerianigneous

Examples from the Web for plutonic

Historical Examples

  • As to flint, that would not be wanting in these regions of Plutonic origin.

    The Mysterious Island

    Jules Verne

  • He has neither the cunning nor the ambition to establish the Plutonic empire with it.

    The Perfect Wagnerite

    George Bernard Shaw

  • In the Plutonic system, there is one simple and constant order assumed, which may be supposed eternal.

  • The plutonic rocks which penetrate them are generally granite of various degrees of firmness.

  • They loved their city and worked for it with a plutonic energy which was always ardently vocal.

British Dictionary definitions for plutonic

plutonic

adjective
  1. (of igneous rocks) derived from magma that has cooled and solidified below the surface of the earthAlso: abyssal
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Word Origin

C20: named after Pluto 1
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

Word Origin and History for plutonic

adj.

"pertaining to or involving intense heat deep in the earth's crust," 1796, coined by Irish scientist Richard Kirwin (1733-1812) from comb. form of Pluto (as god of the underworld) + -ic. Especially in reference to early 19c. geological theory (championed by Hutton) that attributed most of the earth's features to action of internal heat, a theory which triumphed over its rival, neptunism, which attributed them to water. Related: Plutonism; Plutonist.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper