regmaglypt
/ˈɹɛɡ.mə.ɡlipt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A small, shallow indentation or pit on the surface of a meteorite, resembling a thumbprint impression in clay, created by ablation while falling in an atmosphere.
Example Sentences
- "But, as the author has established, when an individual sample of a meteorite shower has a semi-orientated shape (roughly conoid, as in the given case), it must have definite morphological properties: on its front surface it must have a fully developed typical regmaglypt – relief which has had time to form during the sample's movement at cosmic speed after its separation from the main meteoric body."
- "This, the Warburton Range meteorite, weighs 125 lbs and is a single mass […] displaying regmaglypt patterns on its surface."
- "The largest Henbury meteorites show beautiful regmaglypt structures. Some are oriented, displaying a shieldlike form produced when a meteoroid passes through the atmosphere without tumbling and ablates, primarily on the leading side."
- "Another product of ablation that occurs during a meteoroid's brief atmospheric passage is the development of surface pits or regmaglypts on stones and irons alike. The common name for these is "thumb prints," since they are about the size of the human thumb. Regmaglypts in stones tend to be shallower than in irons, and are therefore not as well defined."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ῥῆγμα
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɹɛɡ.mə.ɡlipt/
- British English: /ˈɹɛɡ.mə.ɡlɪpt/