Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Fine Dictionary

steatite

WordNet
  1. (n) steatite
    a soft heavy compact variety of talc having a soapy feel; used to make hearths and tabletops and ornaments
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
  1. (n) steatite
    Soapstone: an impure massive variety of talc. Also called potstone.
  2. (n) steatite
    A gem or seal, cut in steatite.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
  1. (n) Steatite
    stē′a-tīt soapstone, a compact or massive variety of talc, a hydrous silicate of magnesia, white or yellow, soft and greasy to the touch—used by tailors for marking cloth, and called Briançon Chalk, French Chalk, and Venice Talc
Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary Gr. ste`ar ste`atos, fat, tallow: cf. F. stéatite,

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary Gr. steatitēs—stear, steatos, suet.

Usage in literature

The body is of cast-iron; the cover, funnel, and chimney are of tin; and the burner is of steatite. "Scientific American Supplement, No. 324, March 18, 1882" by Various

The other minerals so common are the varieties of steatite. "Scientific American Supplement, No. 344, August 5, 1882" by Various

Inside this were four caskets of steatite (a sacred stone among the Buddhists), each containing small portions of burnt human bone. "Ten Great Religions" by James Freeman Clarke

A large pipe of gray steatite; the bowl is square and about 3 inches in length, by 1 in diameter. "Illustrated Catalogue of a Portion of the Collections Made" by William H. Holmes

Steatite is extracted from the Arakan hill quarries. "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4" by Various

The zoologist carried a meerschaum; the guides smoked out of Indian calumets of the celebrated steatite, or red claystone. "The Hunters' Feast" by Mayne Reid

He saw the natives eating steatite. "Celebrated Travels and Travellers" by Jules Verne

Three of them were carved out of steatite, being skillfully cut and polished. "Ancient America, in Notes on American Archaeology" by John D. Baldwin

In one tomb there was found, with undoubted Libyan pottery, a green steatite cylinder of a type known in the Old Kingdom. "El Kab" by J.E. Quibell

The steatite vases with reliefs are of great importance. "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 6" by Various

Usage in poetry
The merchants brought him steatite from Sidon
in their painted ships:
The meanest cup that touched his lips was
fashioned from a chrysolite.
"The Sphinx" by Oscar Wilde Author object (520)