Meanings
plural graphites
- countableuncountableAn allotrope of carbon, consisting of planes of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal arrays with the planes stacked loosely, that is used as a dry lubricant, in "lead" pencils, and as a moderator in some nuclear reactors.
Technical terms like ferrite, perlite, graphite, and hardenite were bandied to and fro, and when Paget glibly brought out such a rare exotic as ferro-molybdenum, Benson forgot that he was a master ship-builder, […]
1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 4, in Well Tackled!Synonyms: plumbago, black lead
- countableuncountableGraphite-reinforced plastic, a composite plastic made with graphite fibers noted for lightweight strength and stiffness.
Modern tennis racquets are made of graphite, fibreglass and other man-made materials.
Synonyms: carbon fiber reinforced plastic, carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, graphite composite, CFRP, CRP
- countableuncountableA grey colour, resembling graphite or the marks made with a graphite pencil.
present singular third person graphites · participle present graphiting · participle past graphited · past graphited
- transitiveTo apply graphite to.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn allotrope of carbon, consisting of planes of carbon atoms arranged in hexagonal arrays with the planes stacked loosely, that is used as a dry lubricant, in "lead" pencils, and as a moderator in some nuclear reactors.
nounGraphite-reinforced plastic, a composite plastic made with graphite fibers noted for lightweight strength and stiffness.
More synonyms by meaning
nounused as a lubricant and as a moderator in nuclear reactors
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*gerbʰ-
- Proto-Hellenic*grə́pʰō
- Ancient Greekγράφω (gráphō)
- GermanGraphit
- Englishgraphite
Borrowed from German Graphit (A. G. Werner 1789), from Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “to write”).
More words from German, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic غَرَافِيت
- غَرَافِيت (ḡarāfīt)form of carbon
Bengali কৃষ্ণসীস
- কৃষ্ণসীস (kriśnośiś)form of carbon
Bulgarian графит, графит
- графит (grafit)form of carbon
- графит (grafit)colour
Catalan grafit
- grafitform of carbon
Chinese Mandarin 石墨
- 石墨 (shímò)form of carbon
Czech grafit, tuha
- grafitform of carbon
- tuhaform of carbon
Danish grafit
- grafitform of carbon
Dutch grafiet
- grafietform of carbon
Esperanto grafito
- grafitoform of carbon
Estonian grafiit, metaantratsiidiks
- grafiitform of carbon
- metaantratsiidiksform of carbon
Finnish grafiitti, hiilikuitu
- grafiittiform of carbon
- hiilikuitucomposite plastic
- hiilikuitukomposiitticomposite plastic
- grafiitinharmaacolour
French graphite
- graphiteform of carbon
German Graphit
- Graphitform of carbon
Greek γραφίτης
- γραφίτης (grafítis)form of carbon
Hindi लिखिज, ग्रेफाइट
- लिखिज (likhij)form of carbon
- ग्रेफाइट (grephāiṭ)form of carbon
Hungarian grafit
- grafitform of carbon
Icelandic grafít, ritblý
- grafítform of carbon
- ritblýform of carbon
Irish graifít
- graifítform of carbon
Italian grafite
- grafiteform of carbon
Japanese 石墨, 黒鉛
- 石墨 (sekiboku)form of carbon
- 黒鉛 (kokuen)form of carbon
Korean 석묵, 흑연
- 석묵 (seongmuk)form of carbon
- 흑연 (heugyeon)form of carbon
Latin plumbāgō
- plumbāgōform of carbon
Māori matāpango
- matāpangoform of carbon
Norwegian Bokmål grafitt
- grafittform of carbon
Persian گرافیت
- گرافیت (gerâfit)form of carbon
Polish grafit, grafit
- grafitform of carbon
- grafitcomposite plastic
- kolor grafitowycolour
Portuguese grafite, grafita
- grafiteform of carbon
- grafitaform of carbon
Punjabi ਗਰੇਫ਼ਾਈਟ
- ਗਰੇਫ਼ਾਈਟ (garefāīṭa)form of carbon
Romanian grafit
- grafitform of carbon
Russian графи́т
- графи́т (grafít)form of carbon
Slovak tuha
- tuhaform of carbon
Spanish grafito, plombagina
- grafitoform of carbon
- plombaginaform of carbon
- plumbaginaform of carbon
Swedish grafit, blyerts
- grafitform of carbon
- blyertsform of carbon
- blyertscolour
Tagalog hitam, grapito
- hitamform of carbon
- grapitoform of carbon
Tamil கடுங்கரி
- கடுங்கரி (kaṭuṅkari)form of carbon
Thai ถ่านดำใช้ทำดินสอ
- ถ่านดำใช้ทำดินสอform of carbon
Turkish grafit
- grafitform of carbon
Ukrainian графі́т
- графі́т (hrafít)form of carbon
Vietnamese than chì
- than chìform of carbon
Welsh graffit
- graffitform of carbon
Yiddish גראַפֿיט
- גראַפֿיט (grafit)form of carbon
Cite this entry
graphite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/graphite
“graphite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/graphite. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “graphite,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/graphite.
Source: graphite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.