Phenocryst

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any relatively large crystal embedded in a more fine-grained or glassy igneous rock

    "Some of the feldspar phenocrysts are more than 1 cm long, but most are less than 5 mm."

Synonyms

All synonyms
phenocrystalphenocrystal

Example

More examples

"Some of the feldspar phenocrysts are more than 1 cm long, but most are less than 5 mm."

Etymology

pheno- + -cryst

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