WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Gran"ite
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [It. granito granite, adj., grainy, p. p. of granire to make grainy, fr. L. granum grain; cf. F. granit. See Grain.] (Geol.)
Definition : Defn: A crystalline, granular rock, consisting of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and usually of a whitish, grayish, or flesh-red color. It differs from gneiss in not having the mica in planes, and therefor in being destitute of a schistose structure.

Note: Varieties containing hornblende are common. See also the Note under Mica. Gneissoid granite, granite in which the mica has traces of a regular arrangement. -- Graphic granite, granite consisting of quartz and feldspar without mica, and having the quartz crystals so arranged in the transverse section like oriental characters. -- Porphyritic granite, granite containing feldspar in distinct crystals. -- Hornblende granite, or Syenitic granite, granite containing hornblende as well as mica, or, according to some authorities hornblende replacing the mica. -- Granite ware. (a) A kind of stoneware. (b) A Kind of ironware, coated with an enamel resembling granite.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913