Etymology

dolerite

D2O1L1E1R1I1T1E1

Today it means: A type of fine-grained basaltic rock. Full definition →

French dolérite ← Ancient Greek δολερός
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromδολερός“deceitful, deceptive”
  2. French · borrowed fromdolérite
  3. English todaydolerite

From French dolérite, from Ancient Greek δολερός (dolerós, “deceitful, deceptive”), because it was easily confounded with diorite, + -ite.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.