Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various flammable mixtures of hydrocarbons and other substances, occurring naturally or obtained by distillation from coal or petroleum, that are a component of asphalt and tar and are used for surfacing roads and for waterproofing.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The name given by Latin writers, especially by Pliny, to various forms of hydrocarbons now included under the names of asphaltum, maltha, and petroleum (see these words). Bitumen, as used by artists, is a mixture of asphaltum with a drying-oil. It produces a rich brown transparent surface, but is liable to crack and blacken.
Wiktionary
- n. Mineral pitch; a black, tarry substance, burning with a bright flame; Jew’s pitch. It occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. It is used in cements, in the construction of pavements, et cetera.
- n. By extension, any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petrolea, and even the light, volatile naphthas.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Mineral pitch; a black, tarry substance, burning with a bright flame; Jew's pitch. It occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. It is used in cements, in the construction of pavements, etc. See asphalt.
- n. By extension, any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petroleums, and even the light, volatile naphthas.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any of various naturally occurring impure mixtures of hydrocarbons
Etymologies
- From Latin bitūmen, from Gaulish *bitu (compare Scottish Gaelic bìth ‘resin, gum’) and -ūmen from Latin ferūmen ‘cement, glue’. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English bithumen, a mineral pitch from the Near East, from Latin bitūmen, perhaps of Celtic origin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“But after reading up on the Keystone XL pipeline and its proposed cargo -- a thick, tarry form of oil called bitumen, which is diluted with other petroleum byproducts and pumped at higher pressures and temperatures than conventional crude -- Kelso said she and her family became nervous and backed away.”
The Huffington Post: Landowners Challenge TransCanada's Keystone Pipeline
“Thinking further, friction under millions of car tyres might be transferable if the technology goes in that direction, since bitumen is also a piezzo generating fabric or it could easily be enhanced with ingrediants that are more so, like recycled plastic kibble. come to think of it. recycled plastic kibble could be used as concrete aggregate and then you could generate piezzo electrics from lift shafts, supermarket shopping malls, freeways, footpaths, etc.”
“In what you might call a giant washing machine, agitation and heat begin to separate the bitumen from the sand.”
“At the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, where bitumen is surface-mined, the ore is broken up and mixed with warm water to form a slurry.”
“These aren't your average oil fields: They harbor not oil, but a viscous substance called bitumen, which is converted into synthetic crude, and eventually gasoline, through a water - and energy-intensive process.”
“Transforming the tar, more properly known as bitumen, which is mixed with sand, into petroleum is energy intensive and creates significant carbon emissions.”
“They include tar sands (a mixture of sand or clay and a viscous, black, sticky petroleum deposit called bitumen), oil shale (a sedimentary rock containing kerogen, a precursor to petroleum) and synthetic liquid fuels made from coal or gas.”
“fi rst to discover the various antidotes, one of earth and roasted copper (at 4 drachms each); which is even known by his name bitumen and castoreum (the secretion of beaver); 150 drachms of honey and 80 drachms of vetch So effective was Mithridates 'formulation that he meal.”
“That tar, which is formally known as bitumen, is later separated and processed to produce oil, "the Times explains.”
“Tar sands can be mined and processed to extract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bitumen’.
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allover
reintegrate, spight, surveillant, harmonize, Colophon, workplace, bigoted, unsighted, bridgework, salutation, voltmeter, octane and 159 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
veal, valve, used, yak, wax, wan, teak, vat, vas, strip, use, strap and 4515 more...
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Old Pharmacy, etc.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
This is not an Aubrey/Maturin list.
There. I think I've convinced myself.
(Of course...asafetida, Cinchona, Peruvian bark, Jesuit's bark, mithridate, aqua, bark, lard, electuary, gentian, diatessaron, myrrh and 110 more...
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•Open List: Plural-Looking Singular N...
This came up on auroch, which is a misspelling of aurochs.
aurochs, series, corps, species, kudos, bitumen, caries, lens, crossroads, means, vertebra, scissors and 7 more...
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wanderstar's Words
superlative, mulish, mumps, catatonic, aquiline, clandestine, phantasmagoria, chryselephantine, microfiche, mutineer, reprobate, ruthless and 312 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Rubbies
Words and things that rub me wrong
eclectic, canon, flesh, irregardless, conversate, can't, mandatory, war on christmas, male bonding, pissa, parochial, infallible and 98 more...
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bintalshamsa's list
My Favorite Words
weltschmerz, perspicacity, idée fixe, invigilator, salubrious, tchotchke, ex nihilo, invidious, malapropism, naïve, sardonic, elide and 1402 more...
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artoparts's Words
illation, finite, edify, abide, abrade, vouch, amiss, vociferate, perusing, techantiquery, rigamarole, holon and 615 more...
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favorite words
sawbones, grackle, celadon, brio, loam, trull, mint, saliva, serape, frisson, impasto, reek and 547 more...
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Chromonyms
These chromonyms are defined as colors in at least one dictionary (mostly MW3). (Actually there's one fake, for reasons I'll explain someday.) They are all one-word nouns such as "kelly", which can...
absinthe, acacia, acorn, alabaster, alesan, almond, aloma, amaranth, amber, amethyst, anemone, anil and 821 more...
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calvino
nasturtiums, calabrian, dahlia, bergamots, rose chafers, mesembryanthemun, kropotkin, aloes, ranunculus, pergola, majolica, tome and 17 more...
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The Old Farmstead
quickset, bigg, bullimung, simila, grudgins, misulane, hemp, milk-pan, churn, cheese-press, cheese-shape, butter-mold and 83 more...
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Magic or Madness
Words from the glossaries in the back of the novels.
ambo, arse, bickie, biscuit, bloke, boong, bottlebrush, bronze medallion, bugger, bunyip, cardie, chips and 79 more...
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exposure
being words related to photography and the photographic arts
cyanotype, tintype, lithograph, daguerreotype, calotype, rayograph, photogram, ambrotype, collotype, luminogram, kallitype, platinotype and 29 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bitumen.
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