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."
Lovely B post. interesting to read.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
Sounds like something that would lurk around Hogwarts and cover the unwary student in soap suds.
ReplyDeleteThis 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).
ReplyDeleteit kinda falls out of my mouth like a half-eaten roll. BUT, I adore geology.
ReplyDeleteActually, that's a hard word to say - I tried! Sounds like a lisp. but I love words too. :)
ReplyDeleteI do like the way it sounds. New word for me.. I shall use it a sentence today :)
ReplyDeleteI can see one of those from my window, and now I know what to call it. Excellent.
ReplyDeleteRats! How am I going to incorporate THAT in my WIP? It's set in flat Norfolk....I'll try...
ReplyDeleteRocks rock! I actually know this word because I wanted to be a geologist aloooong time ago.
ReplyDeletegreat post and wow i learned a new word totally going to find a way to use it today
ReplyDeleteSounds like someone with a lisp saying Basilisk ;)
ReplyDeleteThat's a good word; sounds quite archaic. Another one to add into the vocab. Thanks!
Jamie Gibbs
Fellow A-Z Buddy
Mithril Wisdom
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!
ReplyDeleteCheers, Jenn
http://www.wine-n-chat.com
Another word I didn't know. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnd Congrats on winning the writing hero award. You so deserve it.
It's sort of, kind of similar to basilisk. Or is that just me...
ReplyDeleteVery cool info! Love the blog. Found you via The Bookshelf Muse. :) Good luck on the A-Z Challenge.
ReplyDeleteBig Boulder, just saying'. :D
ReplyDeleteVery interesting, it does sound like a fun word to say
ReplyDeleteBatholith, it has the same quality as labyrinth the way it fills the mouth and rolls of the tongue.
ReplyDeletethat really is a super cool word. I might use that from time to time too. (I'll put you in my acknowledgments -- lolol) ;o)
ReplyDeleteDropping by from The Bookshelf Muse, interesting post. I, too, love pictures of mountains, I just wouldn't want to climb one. Lol.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to say. :) Great B word.
ReplyDeleteI like its synonym too - plutonic rock! Yay! Take care
ReplyDeletex
Good word. I can't help but giggle since we Georgia folk know where a nearby batholith is. ; )
ReplyDeleteAwesome word! I have no idea how I'd use it, but it just might pop out when I least expect it.
ReplyDeleteI'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.
Oh fun, I love new words! Even if they are hard to say...
ReplyDeleteHmmm, didnt they use that word somewhere in middle earth. An excellent addition to the vocab.
ReplyDeleteCheers Matt
Shaun
Valleys ShutterBug
Interesting piece and the photo is beautiful
ReplyDeleteAh, I love a good batholith myself. Think Maroon Bells.
ReplyDeleteAnother great word!
ReplyDeleteAnother great word!
ReplyDeleteI am learning something every day, thank you for the vocab session "B"
ReplyDeleteJeremy [Retro-Zombie]
A to Z Co-Host
IZOMBIE: Visit the Madness
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 :)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
We all have our favourite words, mine is chihuahua. I like to say it fast :)
ReplyDeleteWagging Tales
Pretty picture. And now I know what to call those rocks.
ReplyDeleteI love mountains in my writing too! I might have to take advantage of this cool word:)
ReplyDeleteKnowing you love mountains like this, you should make it out to my neck of the woods in southern Utah. You'd love it.
ReplyDeleteI am loving learning new words!
ReplyDeleteGoing to be impressing the locals with a new word today...
ReplyDeleteHalf Dome! I've hiked to the top of that!
ReplyDeletedude! rocks rock. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mini-geology lesson! I rememebr this from school as I'm fascinated with geology.
ReplyDeleteSee, I AM learning something from you everyday. Can't wait for C.
ReplyDeleteSome words should be cut from the English language. No one will use the word "Batholith".
ReplyDeleteLol, if my characters used this word, it would be only to describe a scene in LOTR or something, lol.
ReplyDeleteNot to be confused with platonic rock.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I love words and this looks just like the kind of place a basilisk would make a nest inside.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard that word. To say it makes my tongue feel swollen, or full of novocaine :)
ReplyDeleteAn impressive sounding word. One worthy of use.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post. A good, solid word beginning with B.
ReplyDeleteI am at http://sulekharawat.com/2012/04/02/best-friend/
Personally, I'd rather have the whiskey roll on my tongue, not off.
ReplyDeleteBut 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.
Like the word but can't do the scotch!
ReplyDeleteMay I trade the Scotch for a glass of dry red wine? ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks 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.)
So if I look at synonyms there, it looks like I should be bathing with friends. What? You KNOW how I roll...
ReplyDelete(very cool--I like rock stuff, too)
Fascinating choice of words.
ReplyDeleteHi 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
ReplyDeleteI'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
Huh. I actually didn't know this word. I'm adding it to my lexicon post-haste!
ReplyDeleteNice! Or should I say Gneiss? Ok that way a bad attempt at humor...
ReplyDeleteCheers
*\o/*
CW3
readysetyoubet.blogspot.com
This is great. I danced among batholiths in Scotland and drank whisky.
ReplyDeleteTotally Batholithic.
X.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ansel Adams. I used to have a picture of Half Dome on my wall, in college. Never seen it in person.
- Eric
Great B post! So pleased I stopped in to learn all about batholiths!
ReplyDeleteKathy
http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com
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". ;)
ReplyDeleteWow, I've never heard that word in my life. I'm beginning to feel pretty ignorant. :)
ReplyDeleteEven it was coined by a German geologist
ReplyDeleteI did not know it before.
Nice. That picture looks a lot like half dome in Yosemite.
ReplyDeleteNice posting and a chance to learn a little bit from the topic :)
ReplyDeleteNever heard the word before. Thanks for the vocab lesson. :)
ReplyDeletea very funny way to learn a new word! Your writing is very witty! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteAnother great word. I'm looking forward to your theme. :)
ReplyDeleteCherie Reich - Author
Surrounded by Books Reviews
I like the words that you are choosing. Great picks!
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
Bad ass B post!Thanks for stopping by...I took your advice.
ReplyDeleteAny mountains always find a special place in my heart!...:)JP
ReplyDeleteI'm totally gonna go around saying this word now. Can't wait to sound like a genius!
ReplyDeleteThat is so fascinating. The dome looks like it has split; does the igneous factor make the stone susceptible to faulting like that?
ReplyDeleteI'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!)
ReplyDeleteGotta 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.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever heard that word before... Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete~Blog Hopping from A to A Challenge~
love our va. blue ridge mountains--esp. walton's---love your word!
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteCool word. Now I have to find a way to confuse my teenagers with it. :)
ReplyDeleteSo 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.
ReplyDeleteAh, Half Dome. We visited last May - incredible trip!
ReplyDeleteSeems 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)
ReplyDeleteI will be checking out your posts often. I love a word nerd!
ReplyDeleteI love this word and I love geology.
ReplyDeleteLisa
You had me at half-dome. I used Ansel Adams as my "A" Cool to know the "official" term.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's a cool word. I'd forgotten about it.
ReplyDeleteIt does have a cool sound, though... I may have to add it to my favorite words. Another "b" word I really like: belligerent.
You say Batholith and single malt scotch? You have my attention friend. These things don't just happen arbitrarily.
ReplyDeleteCool word! This is my first year doing this challenge and I've decided to do made up words...like the profile pic also!
ReplyDeleteVery cool word! I like your theme. :-)
ReplyDeletesounds good to me! jean.
ReplyDeletedo you have synesthesia? just wondering.I know it is none of my business but I love the sound of words as well.
I wasn't aware there was a term for something so... specific. Love it :D
ReplyDelete