Meanings
plural schists
- countableuncountableAny of a variety of coarse-grained crystalline metamorphic rocks with a foliated structure that allows easy division into slabs or slates.
1915, Charles Will Wright, Geology and Ore Deposits of Copper Mountain and Kasaan Peninsula, Alaska, US Geological Survey, Professional Paper 87, page 29, Narrow bands of schist are interstratified with these limestones, and in turn narrow beds of limestone are interstratified with the schists.
2 more examples
Although it shows under the microscope traces of the original gabbro structure and of the original gabbro minerals, no one would hesitate from a microscopical examination to class it with the schists.
1890, George Huntington Williams, “The Greenstone Schist Areas of the Menominee and Marquette Regions of Michigan”, in US Geological Survey, number 62, page 74Millions of years ago the mica schists surrounding the old Brandberg West Mine became folded and concertinaed by enormous horizontal pressures.
2012, Amy Schoeman, Skeleton Coast, page ii
Origin
- Ancient Greekσχιστός“splittable”
- Latinschistos lapis“the stone that is easy to split”
- Frenchschiste
- Englishschist
From French schiste, from Latin schistos lapis (“the stone that is easy to split”), from Ancient Greek σχιστός (skhistós, “splittable”), from σχίζω (skhízō, “to split”).
More words from French, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian шиста
- шиста (šista)crystalline foliated rock
Catalan esquist
- esquistcrystalline foliated rock
Chinese Mandarin 頁岩 /页岩, 泥板岩
- 頁岩 /页岩 (yèyán)crystalline foliated rock
- 泥板岩 (níbǎnyán)crystalline foliated rock
- 片岩 (piànyán)crystalline foliated rock
Dutch schist
- schistcrystalline foliated rock
Esperanto skisto
- skistocrystalline foliated rock
Finnish liuske
- liuskecrystalline foliated rock
French schiste
- schistecrystalline foliated rock
German Glimmerschiefer, Grünschiefer
- Glimmerschiefercrystalline foliated rock
- Grünschiefercrystalline foliated rock
- kristalliner Schiefercrystalline foliated rock
- Blauschiefercrystalline foliated rock
- Glaukophanschiefercrystalline foliated rock
- Graphitschiefercrystalline foliated rock
Hungarian kristályos pala, csillámpala
- kristályos palacrystalline foliated rock
- csillámpalacrystalline foliated rock
Indonesian sekis
- sekiscrystalline foliated rock
Italian scisto
- scistocrystalline foliated rock
Japanese 片岩
- 片岩 (hengan)crystalline foliated rock
Malay syis
- syiscrystalline foliated rock
Māori kurupaku
- kurupakucrystalline foliated rock
Norwegian Bokmål skifer
- skifercrystalline foliated rock
Portuguese xisto
- xistocrystalline foliated rock
Russian сла́нец
- сла́нец (slánec)crystalline foliated rock
Spanish esquisto
- esquistocrystalline foliated rock
Swedish glimmerskiffer
- glimmerskiffercrystalline foliated rock
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with schist
Cite this entry
schist. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schist
“schist.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schist. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “schist,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schist.
Source: schist on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.