saccharoid

Also sac·cha·roi·dal

[sak-uh-roid]

adjective

Geology.

1. having a granular texture like that of loaf sugar.

saccharoid

/ ˈsækəˌrɔɪd /

adjective

1. Also: saccharoidal. geology having or designating a texture resembling that of loaf sugar

   saccharoid marble

noun

1. biochem any of a group of polysaccharides that remotely resemble sugars, but are not sweet and are often insoluble

Word History and Origins

Origin of saccharoid¹

First recorded in 1825–35; sacchar- + -oid

Example Sentences

The limestone at this locality is white and saccharoid, with large rhombohedral crystals of calcspar.

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Saccharoid marble is one of the fine varieties: it frequently contains flakes of mica.

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Mica-schist, gneiss, and saccharoid marble are typical of this class.

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In the valley of Loch Maree and thence south-westward into Glenelg, a series of mica-schists, quartz-schists, saccharoid limestones and graphitic schists has been regarded as a group of sedimentary origin through which the Lewisian rocks have been irrupted.

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The geologist would probably describe the Sarsen stones of Wiltshire as "masses of saccharoid sandstone," which in plain English might be rendered as boulders closely resembling gigantic lumps of coarse sugar.

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