Lucullite

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A variety of black limestone, often polished for ornamental purposes. countable, dated, uncountable

    "He next characterized the different British limestones, with reference to the qualities peculiar to each, in the composition of mortars and cements, dividing them into the soft white limestones, such as chalk and oolite, the grey limestones, the bituminous limestones or lucullites, the magnesian limestones, and lastly those fitted for water cements, such as the grey chalk of Dorking, and the blue limestone of Aberthaw and Barrow, and the septaria of the London clay from which Roman cement is prepared, exhibiting specimens of each kind."

Example

More examples

"He next characterized the different British limestones, with reference to the qualities peculiar to each, in the composition of mortars and cements, dividing them into the soft white limestones, such as chalk and oolite, the grey limestones, the bituminous limestones or lucullites, the magnesian limestones, and lastly those fitted for water cements, such as the grey chalk of Dorking, and the blue limestone of Aberthaw and Barrow, and the septaria of the London clay from which Roman cement is prepared, exhibiting specimens of each kind."

Etymology

From Lucullus (“a Roman consul, famous for his great wealth and luxury”) + -ite. Compare French lucullite.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.