stalactite
pronunciation
How to pronounce stalactite in British English:
UK [ˈstæləktaɪt]
How to pronounce stalactite in American English:
US [stəˈlæktaɪt]
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- Noun:
- a cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from the roof of a limestone cave
Word Origin
- stalactite
- stalactite: [17] A stalactite is etymologically something that ‘drips’. The word was coined in modern Latin as stalactītēs, based on Greek stalaktós ‘dripping’, a derivative of the verb stalássein ‘drip’. Also derived from stalássein was stalagmós ‘dropping’, which formed the basis of stalagmite [17].
- stalactite (n.)
- "hanging formation of carbonite of lime from the roof of a cave," 1670s, Englished from Modern Latin stalactites (used 1654 by Olaus Wormius), from Greek stalaktos "dripping, oozing out in drops," from stalassein "to trickle," from PIE root *stag- "to seep, drip, drop" (cognates: German stallen, Lithuanian telziu "to urinate") + noun suffix -ite (1). Related: Stalactic; stalactitic.
Example
- 1. Life is a lovely stalactite of dreams .
- 2. Water that falls onto the ground below from the growing stalactite can form stalagmites .
- 3. Not every stalactite has a complementary stalagmite .
- 4. A stalagmite appears like an inverted stalactite .
- 5. A stalagmite is below a stalactite and they both grow , eventually to meet .