pissasphalt

P3I1S1S1A1S1P3H4A1L1T1

noun

A soft, black, tarry bitumen, intermediate between petroleum and asphalt.

OriginLatin pissasphaltus ← Ancient Greek πισσάσφαλτος →
Scrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpissasphalt (uncountable)

alternative pisasphaltum · alternative pisasphalt

  1. uncountablechemistryA soft, black, tarry bitumen, intermediate between petroleum and asphalt.

    These minerals are intimately incorporated with all asphaltum, pissasphalt and petroleum. […] The impregnated sand, A to B, has a nearly horizontal lamination, but is contorted in places by the ascent of the pissasphalt.

    1893, Scientific American: Supplement, volume XXXVI, Petroleum and Asphalt in California, page 14739

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekπισσάσφαλτος
  2. Latinpissasphaltus
  3. Englishpissasphalt

Borrowed from Latin pissasphaltus, from Ancient Greek πισσάσφαλτος (pissásphaltos), from πίσσα (píssa, “pitch”) + ἄσφαλτος (ásphaltos, “asphalt”).

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French pissasphalte
  • pissasphaltematerial
Cite this entry
APA

pissasphalt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pissasphalt

MLA

“pissasphalt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pissasphalt. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pissasphalt,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pissasphalt.

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