Etymology · Proto-West Germanic
*flint
2 English words descend from Proto-West Germanic *flint, most common first.
- flintA hard, fine-grained quartz that fractures conchoidally and generates sparks when struck against a material such as steel, because tiny chips of the steel are heated to incandescence and burn in air.
- hälleflintaA fine-grained rock consisting of an intimate mixture of quartz and feldspar, sometimes banded or striated, sometimes containing porphyritic crystals of quartz.