basalt

bas·alt
B3A1S1A1L1T1
UK/ˈbæs.ɒlt/UK/ˈbæs.əlt/UK/ˈbæs.ɔːlt/US/bəˈsɔlt/

noun

A hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, which makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.

OriginLate Latin basaltes ← Latin basanites ← Ancient Greek βασανίτης →
Less commonScrabble 8
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Meanings

basalt1

nounbasalt (countable and uncountable, plural basalts)

plural basalts

  1. countableuncountablechemistryA hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, which makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.
  2. countableuncountableA type of unglazed pottery.

Basalt2

proper noun
  1. A home rule municipality of Eagle County and Pitkin County, Colorado.
  2. A city and town in Bingham County, Idaho.
  3. A locality in the Shire of Hepburn, central western Victoria, Australia.

Synonyms & antonyms

Broader
molten rock
Narrower
flood basalt

Origin

  1. Egyptianbḫn“a hard stone”
  2. Ancient Greekβασανίτης
  3. Latinbasanites
  4. Late Latinbasaltes
  5. Englishbasalt

From Late Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian bḫn (“a hard stone”), b-x:n-O39

More words from Late Latin, Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic بَازَلْت
  • بَازَلْت (bāzalt)hard rock
Basque basalto
  • basaltohard rock
Bulgarian база́лт
  • база́лт (bazált)hard rock
Catalan basalt
  • basalthard rock
Chinese Mandarin 玄武岩
  • 玄武岩 (xuánwǔyán)hard rock
Czech čedič
  • čedičhard rock
Danish basalt
  • basalthard rock
Dutch basalt
  • basalthard rock
Esperanto bazalto
  • bazaltohard rock
Estonian basalt
  • basalthard rock
Finnish basaltti
  • basalttihard rock
French basalte
  • basaltehard rock
German Basalt
  • Basalthard rock
Greek βασάλτης
  • βασάλτης (vasáltis)hard rock
Hebrew בַּזֶּלֶת
  • בַּזֶּלֶת (bazélet)hard rock
Hindi बेसाल्ट
  • बेसाल्ट (besālṭ)hard rock
Hungarian bazalt
  • bazalthard rock
Icelandic basalt, blágrýti
  • basalthard rock
  • blágrýtihard rock
Indonesian basalt
  • basalthard rock
Irish basalt
  • basalthard rock
Italian basalto
  • basaltohard rock
Japanese 玄武岩
  • 玄武岩 (genbugan)hard rock
Korean 현무암
  • 현무암 (hyeonmuam)hard rock
Latvian bazalts
  • bazaltshard rock
Lithuanian bazaltas
  • bazaltashard rock
Malay basalt
  • basalthard rock
Māori karā, pakawera
  • karāhard rock
  • pakawerahard rock
  • ōnewahard rock
Norwegian Bokmål basalt
  • basalthard rock
Persian بازالت
  • بازالت (bâzâlt)hard rock
Polish bazalt
  • bazalthard rock
Portuguese basalto
  • basaltohard rock
Romanian bazalt
  • bazalthard rock
Russian база́льт
  • база́льт (bazálʹt)hard rock
Scottish Gaelic basalt
  • basalthard rock
Slovak bazalt, čadič
  • bazalthard rock
  • čadičhard rock
Spanish basalto
  • basaltohard rock
Swedish basalt
  • basalthard rock
Tagalog basalto, batumbakal
  • basaltohard rock
  • batumbakalhard rock
Thai หินบะซอลต์, บะซอลต์
  • หินบะซอลต์ (bà-sɔ́l)hard rock
  • บะซอลต์ (bà-sɔ́l)hard rock
Turkish bazalt
  • bazalthard rock
Ukrainian база́льт
  • база́льт (bazálʹt)hard rock
Vietnamese ba-zan, ba-dan
  • ba-zanhard rock
  • ba-danhard rock
Welsh basalt
  • basalthard rock
Yiddish באַזאַלט
  • באַזאַלט (bazalt)hard rock

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

tablasAlbatsablast
Cite this entry
APA

basalt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/basalt

MLA

“basalt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/basalt. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “basalt,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/basalt.

Source: basalt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.