IGNEOUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does igneous mean? 

• IGNEOUS (adjective)
  The adjective IGNEOUS has 3 senses:

1. produced under conditions involving intense heat

2. produced by the action of fire or intense heat

3. like or suggestive of fire

  Familiarity information: IGNEOUS used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• IGNEOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Produced under conditions involving intense heat

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

igneous; pyrogenic; pyrogenous

Context example:

pyrogenic strata

Pertainym:

heat (the presence of heat)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Produced by the action of fire or intense heat

Synonyms:

eruptive; igneous

Context example:

rocks formed by igneous agents

Domain category:

geology (a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks)

Antonym:

aqueous (produced by the action of water)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Like or suggestive of fire

Synonyms:

fiery; igneous

Context example:

an igneous desert atmosphere

Similar:

hot (used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning)

 Context examples 

They found that the best indicators of oxygen penetration to the igneous basement are a low sedimentation accumulation rate and a relatively thin sediment layer.

(No limit to life in deep sediment of ocean's "deadest" region, NSF)

Scientists have found oxygen and oxygen-breathing microbes all the way through the sediment from the seafloor to the igneous basement at seven sites in the South Pacific gyre, considered the deadest location in the ocean.

(No limit to life in deep sediment of ocean's "deadest" region, NSF)