What does "scoria" mean?

The slag or dross that remains after the smelting of metal from an ore.

What is a synonym for "scoria"?

Common synonyms include: slag, aa, abyssal rock, alluvion, alluvium, ash.

Pronounced //ˈskɔː.ɹi.ə//.

//ˈskɔː.ɹi.ə// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
The slag or dross that remains after the smelting of metal from an ore. countable, uncountable
"The like stuff is in Anacharsis: hot metal; full of scoriae, which should and could have been smelted out, but which will not."
2
the scum formed by oxidation at the surface of molten metals wordnet
3
Rough masses of rock formed by solidified lava, and which can be found around a volcano's crater. countable, uncountable
"To the south lay broken shapes of scoria in a lava bed as far as the eye could see."

"The like stuff is in Anacharsis: hot metal; full of scoriae, which should and could have been smelted out, but which will not."

Inherited from Middle English, from Latin scōria, from Ancient Greek σκωρία (skōría), from σκῶρ (skôr, “dung”).

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