adamantine
/ˌædəˈmænˌtaɪn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.00 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "[A]t laſt appeer / Hell bounds high reaching to the horrid Roof, / And thrice threefold the Gates; three folds vvere Braſs, / Three iron, three of Adamantine Rock, / Impenitrable, impal'd vvith circling fire, / Yet unconsum'd."
- "adamantine bonds adamantine chains"
- "Vnleſſe the Deſtin's adamantine band / Should tye my teeth, I cannot chuſe but bite, […]"
- "Hovv impetrable hee vvas in mollyfying the adamantineſt tiranny of mankinde, […]"
- "[T]o a vviſe man there can happen no iniury or offence at all, to moleſt the felicity of his minde, vvhich (in the Stoicks opinion) ought to bee imperturbable, and his heart adamantine."
- "[I]t vvas thought the beſt pollicie, and ſafeſt for the State, That the Romane Empire ſhould be kept, & held vvithin bounds, to vvit, the Ocean, the rivers Iſter and Euphrates limits ſet by nature, to the end it might be a State Adamantine, (for ſo Auguſtus himſelfe ſpeaketh in Iulian,) that is, invincible; […]"
Etymology
From Middle English adamantine, adamantyne, adamauntyn (“(adjective) of adamant; (noun) adamant”), from Anglo-Norman adamantin and Middle French adamantin (“of or resembling adamant or diamond”) (modern French adamantin), and from its etymon Latin adamantinus (“adamantine”), from Ancient Greek ἀδᾰμάντῐνος (adămántĭnos, “hard as adamant; made of steel”), from ᾰ̓δᾰμᾰντ- (ădămănt-) (a stem of ἀδάμᾱς (adámās, “the hardest metal (probably steel); diamond”), possibly originally Semitic) + -ῐνος (-ĭnos, suffix meaning ‘made of’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, adamant + -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Etymology 1, adjective sense 1.2.4 (“having the quality of attracting or drawing”) and etymology 1, adjective sense 2 (“like diamond in lustre; etc.”) refer to adamant (“(archaic) lodestone; (historical, poetic) diamond”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: adamantium
- Root: adamantine, adamantin, adamantinus, ἀδᾰμάντῐνος
- Suffix: -ine
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌædəˈmænˌtaɪn/
- British English: /ˌædəˈmæntaɪn/
Usage
Inflected Forms
more adamantine (comparative)
most adamantine (superlative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
adamantine spar