Meanings
plural lucullites
- countabledateduncountablechemistryA variety of black limestone, often polished for ornamental purposes.
Compact lucullite is subdivided into common or black marble; and stinkstone.
1875, A Dictionary of Chemistry and the Allied Branches of Other Sciences, volume 3, page 6982 more examples
He next characterized the different British limestones, with reference to the qualities peculiar to each, in the composition of mortars and cements, dividing them into the soft white limestones, such as chalk and oolite, the grey limestones, the bituminous limestones or lucullites, the magnesian limestones, and lastly those fitted for water cements, such as the grey chalk of Dorking, and the blue limestone of Aberthaw and Barrow, and the septaria of the London clay from which Roman cement is prepared, exhibiting specimens of each kind.
1835, The AthenaeumLucullite, which also yields the odour of sulphuretted hydrogen on being rubbed, is found in Derbyshire and other parts of England, as also in Cork, Galway, and Kilkenny, in Ireland.
1883, Alexander Watt, The History of a Lump of Chalk: Its Family Circle, and Their Uses, page 37Synonyms: Lucullan
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA variety of black limestone, often polished for ornamental purposes.
Origin
From Lucullus (“a Roman consul, famous for his great wealth and luxury”) + -ite. Compare French lucullite.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lucullite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lucullite
“lucullite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lucullite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lucullite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lucullite.
Source: lucullite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.