stalactite
nounUK /ˈstælæktaɪt/ · US /stəˈlækˌtaɪt/
Etymology From New Latin stalactites, 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).
1
Geography, Geology, Natural sciences A 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, →OCLC:
- 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:
- Derived terms
- snottite, stalactic, stalactical, stalactitic, stalactitical, stalactitiform
- Related terms
- calthemite, speleothem