Monday, April 2, 2012

A to Z Challenge: B - Batholith

Batholith

I actually use this word occasionally in my writing. I have a love affair with mountains, so it comes up from time to time. It's also just so fun to say, it rolls off the tongue like good Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky.

What? You don't consider Scotch that smooth? You might be drinking the wrong stuff. Anyway, let's get to the important parts:

bath·o·lith [bath-uh-lith] n. - a very large irregular-shaped mass of igneous rock, esp granite, formed from an intrusion of magma at great depth, esp one exposed after erosion of less resistant overlying rocks

Synonyms: batholite, pluton, plutonic rock

Etymology: 1903, from Ger. batholith (1892), coined by German geologist Eduard Suess (1831-1914) from Gk. bathos "depth" + -lith, from lithos "stone."

92 comments:

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Lovely B post. interesting to read.

Yvonne.

Steve MC said...

Sounds like something that would lurk around Hogwarts and cover the unwary student in soap suds.

ShaunaKelleyWrites said...

This is a new word to me! If I'm saying it right then it does roll off the tongue (and I do consider Scotch to be smooth).

Huntress said...

it kinda falls out of my mouth like a half-eaten roll. BUT, I adore geology.

Laura Pauling said...

Actually, that's a hard word to say - I tried! Sounds like a lisp. but I love words too. :)

Cristina said...

I do like the way it sounds. New word for me.. I shall use it a sentence today :)

Laurita said...

I can see one of those from my window, and now I know what to call it. Excellent.

Unknown said...

Rats! How am I going to incorporate THAT in my WIP? It's set in flat Norfolk....I'll try...

Karen Baldwin said...

Rocks rock! I actually know this word because I wanted to be a geologist aloooong time ago.

Rebecca said...

great post and wow i learned a new word totally going to find a way to use it today

Unknown said...

Sounds like someone with a lisp saying Basilisk ;)

That's a good word; sounds quite archaic. Another one to add into the vocab. Thanks!

Jamie Gibbs
Fellow A-Z Buddy
Mithril Wisdom

Jenn said...

How cool-- Love the word. I've said it 7 times already!! HA! I'm going to have fun with this one today! Thanks for enlightening us!

Cheers, Jenn
http://www.wine-n-chat.com

Natalie Aguirre said...

Another word I didn't know. Thanks.

And Congrats on winning the writing hero award. You so deserve it.

Mr. Opinion said...

It's sort of, kind of similar to basilisk. Or is that just me...

Unknown said...

Very cool info! Love the blog. Found you via The Bookshelf Muse. :) Good luck on the A-Z Challenge.

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Big Boulder, just saying'. :D

Unknown said...

Very interesting, it does sound like a fun word to say

Bish Denham said...

Batholith, it has the same quality as labyrinth the way it fills the mouth and rolls of the tongue.

Jessica Bell said...

that really is a super cool word. I might use that from time to time too. (I'll put you in my acknowledgments -- lolol) ;o)

Traci Kenworth said...

Dropping by from The Bookshelf Muse, interesting post. I, too, love pictures of mountains, I just wouldn't want to climb one. Lol.

Unknown said...

It is fun to say. :) Great B word.

Old Kitty said...

I like its synonym too - plutonic rock! Yay! Take care
x

Zan Marie said...

Good word. I can't help but giggle since we Georgia folk know where a nearby batholith is. ; )

Ishta Mercurio said...

Awesome word! I have no idea how I'd use it, but it just might pop out when I least expect it.

I'm giving you an award on my blog today - you don't have to accept it or do anything with it, but I though I'd let you now in any case. The post should be up in the next 15 minutes or so.

Anna Staniszewski said...

Oh fun, I love new words! Even if they are hard to say...

Shaun said...

Hmmm, didnt they use that word somewhere in middle earth. An excellent addition to the vocab.
Cheers Matt
Shaun
Valleys ShutterBug

Unknown said...

Interesting piece and the photo is beautiful

farawayeyes said...

Ah, I love a good batholith myself. Think Maroon Bells.

Dani said...

Another great word!

Dani said...

Another great word!

Jeremy [Retro] said...

I am learning something every day, thank you for the vocab session "B"

Jeremy [Retro-Zombie]
A to Z Co-Host
IZOMBIE: Visit the Madness

Guilie Castillo said...

First time I hear the word--thanks for the education :) In Mexico, close to the city I grew up in, there's a place called Tepoztlan that has all sorts of "irregular-shaped masses of rock", but I'm not sure it's granite... Worth looking into :)

Thanks!

Charmaine Clancy said...

We all have our favourite words, mine is chihuahua. I like to say it fast :)
Wagging Tales

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Pretty picture. And now I know what to call those rocks.

Deana said...

I love mountains in my writing too! I might have to take advantage of this cool word:)

Tasha Seegmiller said...

Knowing you love mountains like this, you should make it out to my neck of the woods in southern Utah. You'd love it.

Tracy Jo said...

I am loving learning new words!

Slamdunk said...

Going to be impressing the locals with a new word today...

Susan Oloier said...

Half Dome! I've hiked to the top of that!

vic caswell said...

dude! rocks rock. :)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the mini-geology lesson! I rememebr this from school as I'm fascinated with geology.

Nancy Thompson said...

See, I AM learning something from you everyday. Can't wait for C.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Some words should be cut from the English language. No one will use the word "Batholith".

Cassie Mae said...

Lol, if my characters used this word, it would be only to describe a scene in LOTR or something, lol.

Suze said...

Not to be confused with platonic rock.

Charlotte Babb said...

Thanks for sharing. I love words and this looks just like the kind of place a basilisk would make a nest inside.

Wine and Words said...

I've never heard that word. To say it makes my tongue feel swollen, or full of novocaine :)

Wendy Tyler Ryan said...

An impressive sounding word. One worthy of use.

sulekkha said...

Interesting post. A good, solid word beginning with B.

I am at http://sulekharawat.com/2012/04/02/best-friend/

Nate Wilson said...

Personally, I'd rather have the whiskey roll on my tongue, not off.

But thanks for the vocabulary lesson; I hadn't heard of those before. Plus, I find it rather fitting the word "batholith" was coined by a Dr. Suess.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Like the word but can't do the scotch!

Anonymous said...

May I trade the Scotch for a glass of dry red wine? ;)

Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier and for following. Nice to meet you. Looking forward to this A-Z challenge. (Turned off W.V. too - thanks for the advice.)

Hart Johnson said...

So if I look at synonyms there, it looks like I should be bathing with friends. What? You KNOW how I roll...

(very cool--I like rock stuff, too)

Unknown said...

Fascinating choice of words.

Rachel said...

Hi Matthew- I often read your blog but just recently got mine (I know I know slow on the uptake lol). I love that you are sharing new words with us for the A-Z Challenge. I love learning new words and their meanings so thank you. This one has a strong Germanic background most definitely

I'm a college student studying the history of the English language for one of my courses and it is soo interesting to see how language has evolved. :) I look forward to more of your posts.

Happy blogging!
Rachel
a-z blog challenge participant

Sarah Ahiers said...

Huh. I actually didn't know this word. I'm adding it to my lexicon post-haste!

Jen said...

Ok, so when I said this out loud I felt like I was saying "basilisk" with a lisp! Then again, I am a bit strange :D

Great post! I've honestly never heard this word before. Educational and entertaining! You can't beat that!

Cheers and happy Challenge,
Jen

CoachWalsh3rd said...

Nice! Or should I say Gneiss? Ok that way a bad attempt at humor...

Cheers
*\o/*
CW3
readysetyoubet.blogspot.com

Kristen Pelfrey said...

This is great. I danced among batholiths in Scotland and drank whisky.
Totally Batholithic.

Eric W. Trant said...

X.

Thank you Ansel Adams. I used to have a picture of Half Dome on my wall, in college. Never seen it in person.


- Eric

Unknown said...

Great B post! So pleased I stopped in to learn all about batholiths!

Kathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

quilly said...

I don't want to shock you, but this is not one of my favorite words to say. To me it has a definite lisp thing going on and it just feels incomplete in my mouth. Generally I am one to look for the precise word to say just what I mean, but in this case I'd just go with "freaking big rock". ;)

Laura Barnes said...

Wow, I've never heard that word in my life. I'm beginning to feel pretty ignorant. :)

ediFanoB said...

Even it was coined by a German geologist
I did not know it before.

Donna K. Weaver said...

Nice. That picture looks a lot like half dome in Yosemite.

Gossip_Grl said...

Nice posting and a chance to learn a little bit from the topic :)

Jessica Salyer said...

Never heard the word before. Thanks for the vocab lesson. :)

Brandi said...

a very funny way to learn a new word! Your writing is very witty! Keep it up!

Cherie Reich said...

Another great word. I'm looking forward to your theme. :)

Cherie Reich - Author

Surrounded by Books Reviews

Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy said...

I like the words that you are choosing. Great picks!

Kathy M.

Unknown said...

Bad ass B post!Thanks for stopping by...I took your advice.

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Any mountains always find a special place in my heart!...:)JP

Marquita Hockaday said...

I'm totally gonna go around saying this word now. Can't wait to sound like a genius!

Susan Kane said...

That is so fascinating. The dome looks like it has split; does the igneous factor make the stone susceptible to faulting like that?

Sarah Tokeley said...

I'd never heard this word before, so thank you - and I agree with someone above. It does sound like someone with a lisp is speaking (and I say that as someone who has to concentrate not to lisp!)

Sharkbytes said...

Gotta love a batholith! I just signed on to the A-Z challenge, nearly at the last minute, but I'm trying to visit every blog at least once.

Monkey said...

I don't think I have ever heard that word before... Thanks for sharing!
~Blog Hopping from A to A Challenge~

Lynn Proctor said...

love our va. blue ridge mountains--esp. walton's---love your word!

Rusty Carl said...

I did not know that. I live here at the foothills of the smokies and we don't have too many cool formations like what's pictured. Smooth, rolling mountains, more like giant hills really.

Carolyn Abiad said...

Cool word. Now I have to find a way to confuse my teenagers with it. :)

Maryannwrites said...

So cool. I learned a new word. I've seen a batholith but did not know what it was. I do know how smooth a good scotch can be. My son brought some amazing scotch home from a recent trip to Scotland, and he shared it with Mom.

Melodie Wright said...

Ah, Half Dome. We visited last May - incredible trip!

Catherine Stine said...

Seems liek a cousin to the mimetolith, which I feature in my sci-fi, Fireseed One. Mimetoliths are rock formations that are shaped like representational objects. I'm over from A to Z (#672)

Anonymous said...

I will be checking out your posts often. I love a word nerd!

Rob and Lisa said...

I love this word and I love geology.

Lisa

Leslie S. Rose said...

You had me at half-dome. I used Ansel Adams as my "A" Cool to know the "official" term.

Andrew Leon said...

Yeah, that's a cool word. I'd forgotten about it.
It does have a cool sound, though... I may have to add it to my favorite words. Another "b" word I really like: belligerent.

50 foot QE said...

You say Batholith and single malt scotch? You have my attention friend. These things don't just happen arbitrarily.

Kate said...

Cool word! This is my first year doing this challenge and I've decided to do made up words...like the profile pic also!

Sarah Mäkelä said...

Very cool word! I like your theme. :-)

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

sounds good to me! jean.
do you have synesthesia? just wondering.I know it is none of my business but I love the sound of words as well.

Dannelore said...

I wasn't aware there was a term for something so... specific. Love it :D