Stalactite
//ˈstælæktaɪt// noun
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or another mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that hangs from the roof of a cave.
"In one place, near at hand, a stalagmite had been slowly growing up from the ground for ages, builded by the water-drip from a stalactite overhead."
- 2 a cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from the roof of a limestone cave wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"What is the difference between a stalactite and a stalagmite?"
Etymology
From New Latin stalactites, from Ancient Greek σταλακτός (stalaktós, “dripping; dropping”) + Latin -ītēs (suffix with the sense ‘belonging to’ forming adjectives) (modelled after the names of stones ending in -ites). Σταλακτός (Stalaktós) is derived from σταλάσσειν (stalássein, “to drip; to let (something) drip”) + -τός (-tós, suffix forming adjectives denoting possibility from verbs).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.