Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hornfels

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 1.23 in modern English

Syllables
horn-fels
IPA
14
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of a series of contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and indurated by the heat of intrusive igneous masses and rendered massive, hard, splintery, and in some cases exceedingly tough and durable.

Countable; Uncountable

Etymology

Borrowed from German Hornfels, literally "horn stone", after its frequent association with glacial "horn peaks" in the Alps.

Origin

Word Breakdown

Usage

Inflected Forms

hornfelses (plural)

Derived Forms

hornfelsic

Synonyms

hornstone

Questions

What does hornfels mean?
Any of a series of contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and indurated by the heat of intrusive igneous masses and rendered massive, hard, splintery, and in some cases exceedingly tough and durable.
Where does hornfels come from?
It is traced to German.

How to pronounce hornfels

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