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trachyte

[trey-kahyt, trak-ahyt]
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noun
  1. a fine-grained volcanic rock consisting essentially of alkali feldspar and one or more subordinate minerals, as hornblende or mica: the extrusive equivalent of syenite.
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Origin of trachyte

1815–25; < French < Greek trāchýtēs roughness, equivalent to trāchý(s) rough + -tēs noun suffix
Related formstra·chyt·ic [truh-kit-ik] /trəˈkɪt ɪk/, trach·y·toid [trak-i-toid, trey-ki-] /ˈtræk ɪˌtɔɪd, ˈtreɪ kɪ-/, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for trachyte

Historical Examples

  • Walls of grey slate and trachyte, and the yellow stuff is good and plenty.

    The Trail of a Sourdough

    May Kellogg Sullivan

  • The last is in a sienitic rock on the limits of the trachyte.

  • The last of the trachyte peaks are at the head of Mosquito pass.

  • The mines here are found both in the granite and also in the trachyte.

  • Some of these are composed of trachyte, others of compact blue basalt with olivine.

British Dictionary definitions for trachyte

trachyte

noun
  1. a light-coloured fine-grained volcanic rock of rough texture consisting of feldspars with small amounts of pyroxene or amphibole
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Derived Formstrachytoid (ˈtrækɪˌtɔɪd, ˈtreɪ-), adjective

Word Origin

C19: from French, from Greek trakhutēs, from trakhus rough
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
trachyte in Science

trachyte

[trā′kīt′, trăk′īt′]
  1. A light-colored, fine-grained igneous rock consisting primarily of alkali feldspar together with some mafic minerals, especially hornblende. Unlike most igneous rocks, trachyte has little or no quartz. Trachyte is the fine-grained equivalent of syenite.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.