Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

basalt

/bəˈsɔlt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.02 in modern English

Syllables
bas-alt
IPA
/bəˈsɔlt/
8
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, which makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A type of unglazed pottery.

Countable; Uncountable

name

A home rule municipality of Eagle County and Pitkin County, Colorado.

name

A city and town in Bingham County, Idaho.

name

A locality in the Shire of Hepburn, central western Victoria, Australia.

Etymology

From Late Latin basaltes, a misspelling of Latin basanites, from Ancient Greek βασανίτης (basanítēs), from βάσανος (básanos, “touchstone”), from Egyptian bḫn (“a hard stone”), b-x:n-O39

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /bəˈsɔlt/
  • British English: /ˈbæs.ɒlt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

basalts (plural)

Derived Forms

basaltic basaltiform basaltine basaltoid basaltware metabasalt metabasaltic nonbasalt picrobasalt trachybasalt

Phrases

alkali basalt pillow basalt plateau basalt

Rhymes With

fault salt assault default halt walt vault malt sault exalt galt gault

Questions

How do you pronounce basalt?
The recorded pronunciation is /bəˈsɔlt/.
What does basalt mean?
A hard mafic igneous rock of varied mineral content; volcanic in origin, which makes up much of the Earth's oceanic crust.
Where does basalt come from?
It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce basalt

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “basalt”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/bəˈsɔlt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “basalt”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “basalt” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.