stalagmite
nounUS /stəˈlæɡˌmaɪt/ · UK /ˈstæl.əɡˌmaɪt/
Etymology From New Latin stalagmitēs, from Ancient Greek στάλαγμα (stálagma, “drop”) or σταλαγμός (stalagmós, “dripping”).
1
Geography, Geology, Natural sciences A secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or other mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that lies on the ground 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:
- Molten roofing north, lead dripping down south, stand like those immobilized columns of arctic water west, stalagmites, monked and housed or stamped and dudleyed east, in school texts.1981, Kalu Uka, A Consummation of Fire: A Novel, page 9:
- Derived terms
- stalagmitic, stalagmitical, stalagmitically, substalagmite
- Related terms
- speleothem, calthemite