Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Relating to or characteristic of fire.
  • adjective Formed by solidification from a molten state. Used of rocks.
  • adjective Relating to rock so formed; pyrogenic.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to, consisting of, having the nature of, or resembling fire: as. igneous particles; igneous appearances.
  • Produced through the agency of fire, or as the result of volcanic and eruptive forces: used in geology in contradistinction to aqueous.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Pertaining to, having the nature of, fire; containing fire; resembling fire.
  • adjective (Geol.) Resulting from, or produced by, the action of fire.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Pertaining to, having the nature of fire; containing fire; resembling fire; as, an igneous appearance
  • adjective geology Resulting from, or produced by, the action of great heat; with rocks, it could also mean formed from lava/magma; as, granite and basalt are igneous rocks

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective like or suggestive of fire
  • adjective produced by the action of fire or intense heat
  • adjective produced under conditions involving intense heat

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin igneus, from ignis, fire.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin igneus, from ignis fire; allied to Sanskrit agni, Lithuanian ugnis, Old Slavic ogne

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Examples

  • They are called "igneous" rocks, from the Latin word

    Diggers in the Earth Eva March Tappan 1892

  • No, not as in igneous, granite, marble or quartz, but as in I just spent 5 days in Guadalajara and had a rockin 'good time.

    Guadalajara Rocks! 2006

  • No, not as in igneous, granite, marble or quartz, but as in I just spent 5 days in Guadalajara and had a rockin 'good time.

    Guadalajara Rocks! 2006

  • No, not as in igneous, granite, marble or quartz, but as in I just spent 5 days in Guadalajara and had a rockin 'good time.

    Guadalajara Rocks! 2006

  • When we pass from the agency which geologists term igneous, to aqueous and atmospheric agencies, we see the like ever growing complications of effects.

    Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects Everyman's Library Herbert Spencer 1861

  • Like all the radioactive clocks used by geologists, potassium/ argon timing works only with so-called igneous rocks.

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • Like all the radioactive clocks used by geologists, potassium/ argon timing works only with so-called igneous rocks.

    THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH RICHARD DAWKINS 2009

  • An attentive examination of a metamorphic region shows that here and there the alteration and recrystallisation have proceeded so far that the rocks graduate into granites and other so-called igneous rocks.

    Geographical Evolution 1909

  • • Rocks are classified as igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic, according to how they formed.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

  • The lone science class I'd been required to take, an introductory geology course, was graded pass/fail, and though I'd passed it (barely), I still wasn't sure what "igneous" meant.

    Lost in the Meritocracy 2005

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