gossan

G2O1S1S1A1N1
UK/ˈɡɒsən/US/ˈɡɑsən/

noun

Rust-coloured (weatherized and oxidized) rock or mineral deposits, forming the upper part or outcrop of a metallic vein.

OriginCornish gossen ← Old Cornish guit →
Scrabble 7
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Meanings

noungossan (countable and uncountable, plural gossans)

plural gossans

  1. countableuncountablegeographyRust-coloured (weatherized and oxidized) rock or mineral deposits, forming the upper part or outcrop of a metallic vein.

    Despite being comprised largely of a multiply deformed amphibolite and granulite facies metagranitoid terrain, the region includes supracrustal belts of three different ages, all hosting gossans that signal base- and precious metal prospectivity.

    2008, L. Nadeau, J.J. Ryan, P. Brouillette, D.T. James, Geological Survey of Canada, Open File 5907, page 1

Origin

  1. Old Cornishguit
  2. Cornishgossen
  3. Englishgossan

Borrowed in the 1770s from Cornish gossen, from gōs (“blood”), from Old Cornish guit (compare Proto-Celtic *wolis).

More words from Cornish, Old Cornish

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Gasson
Cite this entry
APA

gossan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gossan

MLA

“gossan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gossan. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gossan,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gossan.

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