Meanings
nounpumice (countable and uncountable, plural pumices)
plural pumices
- countableuncountableA light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock, formed during explosive volcanic eruptions when liquid lava is ejected into water or air as a froth containing masses of gas bubbles, which are frozen into the rock as the lava solidifies.
The wind blew close to the ground - it rooted among the tussock grass - slithered along the road, so that the white pumice dust swirled in our faces - settled and sifted over us and was like a dry-skin itching for growth on our bodies.
1912, Katherine Mansfield, The Woman at the Store, Oxford World's Classics 2002, page 10
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna light glass formed on the surface of some lavas; used as an abrasive
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpūmex“pumice stone”
- Old Frenchpomis“pumice stone”
- Englishpumice
From Anglo-Norman and Old French pomis (“pumice stone”), from Latin pūmex (“pumice stone”). Doublet of pounce.
More words from Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κίσηρις
- κίσηρις (kísēris)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Arabic خَفَاف, حجر البركان
- خَفَاف (ḵafāf)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- حجر البركان (ḥajar al-burkān)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Basque pumita
- pumitaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Bengali ঝামা পাথর
- ঝামা পাথর (jhama pathor)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Bulgarian пе́мза
- пе́мза (pémza)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Catalan pumicita
- pumicitaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Chinese Mandarin 浮石, 浮岩
- 浮石 (fúshí)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- 浮岩 (fúyán)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Czech pemza
- pemzaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Danish pimpsten
- pimpstena light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Dutch puimsteen
- puimsteena light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Esperanto pumiko
- pumikoa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Estonian pimss
- pimssa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Finnish hohkakivi
- hohkakivia light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
French ponce, pierre ponce
- poncea light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- pierre poncea light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
German Bims
- Bimsa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Greek ελαφρόπετρα
- ελαφρόπετρα (elafrópetra)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Hebrew פּוּמִיס
- פּוּמִיס (pumís)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Hindi झाँवाँ
- झाँवाँ (jhā̃vā̃)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Hungarian habkő, horzsakő
- habkőa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- horzsakőa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- tajtékkőa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Icelandic vikur
- vikura light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Indonesian batu apung
- batu apunga light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Irish slíogart
- slíogarta light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Italian pomice
- pomicea light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Japanese 軽石
- 軽石 (karuishi)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Korean 경석
- 경석 (gyeongseok)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Latin pūmex
- pūmexa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Latvian pumeks
- pumeksa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Lithuanian pemza
- pemzaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Malay pumis
- pumisa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Māori pungapunga, tāhoata
- pungapungaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- tāhoataa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Norwegian Bokmål pimpstein
- pimpsteina light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Polish pumeks
- pumeksa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Portuguese pedra-pomes, púmice
- pedra-pomesa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- púmicea light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Romanian piatră ponce
- piatră poncea light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Russian пе́мза
- пе́мза (pémza)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Slovak pemza
- pemzaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Spanish pumita, piedra pómez
- pumitaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- piedra pómeza light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- pómeza light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- jala light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Swedish pimpsten
- pimpstena light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Tagalog batong-buga, buga
- batong-bugaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- bugaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Thai หินภูเขาไฟ, หินพัมมิซ
- หินภูเขาไฟa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- หินพัมมิซa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Turkish ponza, sünger taşı
- ponzaa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- sünger taşıa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
- köpük taşıa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Ukrainian пе́мза
- пе́мза (pémza)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Urdu جھان٘واں
- جھان٘واں (jhā̃vā̃)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Vietnamese đá bọt
- đá bọta light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Welsh pwmis
- pwmisa light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Yiddish פּימס
- פּימס (pims)a light, porous type of pyroclastic igneous rock
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pumice
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
APA
pumice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pumice
MLA
“pumice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pumice. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pumice,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pumice.
Source: pumice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.