Conchoidal
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Of or pertaining to a conchoid; that may be defined as a conchoid.
"c. 1695, Isaac Newton, 1976, D. T. Whiteside (editor), The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton, Volume 7: 1691-1695, page 621, […] a conchoidal hyperbola with an oval at its convexity."
- 2 Irregular, with planar, concentric curves, similar to those on a mussel shell.
"1821, Coal, entry in Andrew Ure, A Dictionary of Chemistry on the Basis of Mr Nicholson's, unnumbered page, It is distinguished by its splendent lustre and conchoidal fracture."
- 3 That fractures with planar concentric curves (e.g., as flint, chert or obsidian).
"1821, Focus of Philosophy, Science and Art, Volume 1, Issues 1-4, page 74, The customary transitions of pitchstone are, into Chalcedony, Chert, Semi-opal; also into a substance resembling conchoidal shining jasper, found in clay strata, entangled in trap, or volcanic rock; and lastly, into Trap."
Example
More examples"c. 1695, Isaac Newton, 1976, D. T. Whiteside (editor), The Mathematical Papers of Isaac Newton, Volume 7: 1691-1695, page 621, […] a conchoidal hyperbola with an oval at its convexity."
Etymology
From conchoid + -al.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.