trachyte

[trey-kahyt, trak-ahyt]

noun

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.

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. 2019

Examples from the Web for trachyte

Historical Examples of trachyte

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.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines
Andrew Ure
The mines here are found both in the granite and also in the trachyte.
The Crest of the Continent
Ernest Ingersoll
The last of the trachyte peaks are at the head of Mosquito pass.
The Crest of the Continent
Ernest Ingersoll
Some of these are composed of trachyte, others of compact blue basalt with olivine.
Principles of Geology
Charles Lyell

British Dictionary definitions for trachyte

trachyte

noun

a light-coloured fine-grained volcanic rock of rough texture consisting of feldspars with small amounts of pyroxene or amphibole

Derived Formstrachytoid (ˈtrækɪˌtɔɪd, ˈtreɪ-), adjective

Word Origin for trachyte

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′]

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.