Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Stalactite |
StalactiteNoun1. A cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from the roof of a limestone cave. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "stalactite" was first used: 1677. (references) |
Etymology: Stalactite \Sta*lac"tite\, noun; plural Stalactites. [Greek expression oozing out in drops, dropping, from to drop: compare to the French expression stalactite.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Geography | Pendant concretionary deposit of calcium carbonate formed from percolating solutions as an icicle-like mass on the roof of a limestone cavern and in other analogous situations. Source: European Union. (references) |
Geological | A mineral deposit (speleothem) which hangs downwards from a roof or wall of a cave. See stalagmite. (references) |
Mining | A conical or cylindrical mineral deposit that hangs from the ceiling of acave. See also:stalagmite. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A stalactite is a deposit of calcium carbonate which hangs from the ceiling or wall of a limestone cave and is formed by the dripping of mineralized solutions. The corresponding formation on the floor underneath a stalactite is known as a stalagmite. The term "stalactite" is derived from the Greek meaning to fall in drops; "stalagmite," from the Greek meaning that which drops.
To remember which hangs from the ceiling (stalactite) and which comes up from the floor (stalagmite) think of:
- Stalactite is stretched "tite" (tight) by hanging from the ceiling.
- Stalagmite pushes up with all its "mite" (might) from the floor.
See Also
- Icicle
- Rusticle
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Stalactite."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Lining | Noun: lining, inner coating; coating; (covering);Noun: lining, inner coating; coating; (covering); stalactite, stalagmite. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Stalactite |
| English words defined with "stalactite": Stalactites, Stalactitical, Stalactitiform, Stalactoform. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Stalactite" is also a word in the following language with the English translation in parentheses. French (stalactite). |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Man climbing large stalactite while surprised kayaker watches. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Cave" by Donall O'Cleirigh Commentary: "Stalactite in deep underground cave." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | The nose is a manifest congealed drop or stalactite. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Stalactite" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Stalactite" is used about 14 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 14 | 93,893 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "stalactite": stalactite-like. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
stalactite | 27 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "stalactite"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | stalaktit, hell gëlqerori. (various references) | |
Arabic | الحليمات رواسب كلسية, رواسب كلسية بالمغاور مدلاة. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | сталактит. (various references) | |
Czech | stalaktit. (various references) | |
Danish | stalaktit (drip stone). (various references) | |
Dutch | stalaktiet (drip stone), stalactiet (drip stone). (various references) | |
Finnish | stalaktiitti (drip stone), tippukivi (stalagmite). (various references) | |
French | stalactite (drip stone). (various references) | |
German | tropfstein (dripstone, stalagmite). (various references) | |
Greek | σταλακτίτησ (stalagmite), σταλακτίτης (drip stone). (various references) | |
Hebrew | אבן טפין עלית, נטיף עלי, נטוף תלוי. (various references) | |
Hungarian | sztalaktit. (various references) | |
Italian | stalattite (drip stone). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 鍾乳石 , 鐘乳石 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | しょうにゅうせき. (various references) | |
Manx | kibbin eayil. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | alactitestay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | estalactite (drip stone). (various references) | |
Romanian | stalactitã. (various references) | |
Russian | сталактит. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | stalaktit (sinter). (various references) | |
Spanish | estalactita (drip stone). (various references) | |
Swedish | stalaktit (drip stone). (various references) | |
Turkish | stalaktit, sarkıt, damlataş. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | сталактит. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | vú đá. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Greek | 700 BCE-300 CE | stalaktos. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "stalactite": stalactites. (additional references) | |
| |
"Stalactite" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: saltative, stalacite, stalacmite, stalactie, stalacyite, stalagtite. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "stalactite" (pronounced 'Sta*lac"tite'): Apotactite, Hittite, Martite, Partite, Pluripartite, Smectite. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-c-e-i-l-s-t-t-t" | |
-2 letters: cattails, cattiest, lactates, lattices, statical. | |
-3 letters: acetals, astatic, cattail, catties, elastic, etatist, laciest, lactase, lactate, latices, lattice, satiate, statice, tactile, tatties, tattles, tittles. | |
-4 letters: acetal, aecial, alates, atelic, attest, attics, calesa, casita, castle, cattie, cattle, cleats, eclats, latest, lattes, saltie, stacte, statal, static, stelai, stelic, tattie, tattle, tectal, ticals, titles, tittle. | |
-5 letters: aceta, aecia. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-c-e-i-l-s-t-t-t" | |
+1 letter: stalactites. | |
+4 letters: metastatically, tractabilities. | |
+5 letters: theatricalities. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Images: Slideshow 4. Images: Photo Album | 5. Images: Digital Art 6. Quotations: Fiction 7. Usage Frequency 8. Expressions | 9. Expressions: Internet 10. Translations: Modern 11. Translations: Ancient 12. Derivations | 13. Rhymes 14. Anagrams 15. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
