Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Granite
Gran′ite
(grăn′ĭt)
, Noun.
[It.
granito
granite, adj., grainy, p. p. of granire
to make grainy, fr. L. granum
grain; cf. F. granit
. See Grain
.] (Geol.)
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 therefore in being destitute of a schistose structure.
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.