Meanings
plural stalactites
- geographyA secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or another mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that hangs from the roof of a cave.
In one place, near at hand, a stalagmite had been slowly growing up from the ground for ages, builded by the water-drip from a stalactite overhead.
1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXIII, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC1 more example
There is the Hang Ken cave with its waterfalls spilling into large lagoons, shimmering goldlike mineral deposits and soaring columns created over thousands of years when stalactites hanging from the cave roof met stalagmite formations building from the cave floor.
2014 October 31, David W. Lloyd, “Deep in Vietnam, Exploring a Colossal Cave”, in The New York Times
Origin
- Ancient Greekσταλάσσειν (stalássein)
- Ancient Greekσταλακτός (stalaktós)
- New Latinstalactītēs
- Englishstalactite
From New Latin stalactītēs, from Ancient Greek σταλακτός (stalaktós, “dripping; dropping”) + Latin -ītēs (suffix with the sense ‘belonging to’ forming adjectives) (modelled after the names of stones ending in -ites). Σταλακτός (Stalaktós) is derived from σταλάσσειν (stalássein, “to drip; to let (something) drip”) + -τός (-tós, suffix forming adjectives denoting possibility from verbs).
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian сталакти́т
- сталакти́т (stalaktít)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Catalan estalactita, caramell
- estalactitamineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- caramellmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Chinese Mandarin 鐘乳石 /钟乳石
- 鐘乳石 /钟乳石 (zhōngrǔshí)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Czech stalaktit
- stalaktitmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Dutch druipsteenpegel, druipsteen
- druipsteenpegelmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- druipsteenmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Esperanto stalaktito
- stalaktitomineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Finnish tippukivipuikko, stalaktiitti
- tippukivipuikkomineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- stalaktiittimineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
French stalactite
- stalactitemineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
German Stalaktit
- Stalaktitmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Greek σταλακτίτης
- σταλακτίτης (stalaktítis)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Hebrew נָטִיף
- נָטִיף (natíf)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Hungarian sztalaktit
- sztalaktitmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Icelandic dropasteinn
- dropasteinnmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Indonesian stalaktit
- stalaktitmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Irish aolchuisne
- aolchuisnemineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Italian stalattite
- stalattitemineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Japanese 鍾乳石
- 鍾乳石 (shōnyūseki)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Korean 종유석
- 종유석 (jong'yuseok)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Latvian stalaktīts
- stalaktītsmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Māori keoiri
- keoirimineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Polish sopleniec, stalaktyt
- sopleniecmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- stalaktytmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Portuguese estalactite
- estalactitemineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Russian сталакти́т
- сталакти́т (stalaktít)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Slovak stalaktit
- stalaktitmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Spanish estalactita
- estalactitamineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Swedish stalaktit
- stalaktitmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Tagalog estalaktita, tulumbato
- estalaktitamineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- tulumbatomineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Thai หินย้อย
- หินย้อย (hǐn-yɔ́ɔi)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Turkish sarkıt, damla taş
- sarkıtmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- damla taşmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- stalaktitmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Ukrainian сталакти́т
- сталакти́т (stalaktýt)mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Vietnamese thạch nhũ, nhũ đá
- thạch nhũmineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
- nhũ đámineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Cite this entry
stalactite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stalactite
“stalactite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stalactite. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stalactite,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stalactite.
Source: stalactite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.