Meanings
nounperlite (plural perlites)
plural perlites
- The lightweight insulating material and aggregate resulting from expanding perlite glass by heat.
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 & antonyms
nounAn amorphous volcanic glass formed by the hydration of obsidian.
Similar
Origin
- Frenchperle“pearl”
- Englishperlite
From French perle (“pearl”) + -ite.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan perlita
- perlitaperlite
Chinese Mandarin 珍珠岩
- 珍珠岩 (zhēnzhūyán)perlite
Finnish perliitti
- perliittiperlite
French perlite
- perliteperlite
German Perlit
- Perlitperlite
Greek περλίτης
- περλίτης (perlítis)perlite
Indonesian perlit
- perlitperlite
Italian perlite
- perliteperlite
Polish perlit
- perlitperlite
Portuguese perlita
- perlitaperlite
Romanian perlită
- perlităperlite
Spanish perlita
- perlitaperlite
Turkish perlit
- perlitperlite
Rhymes & wordplay
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
perlite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perlite
MLA
“perlite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perlite. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “perlite,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/perlite.
Source: perlite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.