Adamant

Adamant
Adamant Ad"a*mant ([a^]d"[.a]*m[a^]nt), n. [OE. adamaunt, adamant, diamond, magnet, OF. adamant, L. adamas, adamantis, the hardest metal, fr. Gr. 'ada`mas, -antos; 'a priv. + dama^,n to tame, subdue. In OE., from confusion with L. adamare to love, be attached to, the word meant also magnet, as in OF. and LL. See {Diamond}, {Tame}.] 1. A stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness; but in modern mineralogy it has no technical signification. It is now a rhetorical or poetical name for the embodiment of impenetrable hardness. [1913 Webster]

Opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. Lodestone; magnet. [Obs.] ``A great adamant of acquaintance.'' --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

As true to thee as steel to adamant. --Greene. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Adamant — Adamant, Adamas, Adamantit, Adamantium oder ähnliche Wörter bezeichnen ein fiktives, sehr hartes Mineral, Kristall oder Metall bzw. einen ebenso robusten (Halb )Edelstein. Ebenso wie Diamant und Adamantan, lässt sich das Wort „Adamant“ vom griech …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Adamant — Área no incorporada de los Estados Unidos …   Wikipedia Español

  • adamant — ADAMÁNT, adamante, s.n. (pop.) Diamant (1). – Din sl. adamantŭ. Trimis de ana zecheru, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98  ADAMÁNT s. v. diamant. Trimis de siveco, 13.09.2007. Sursa: Sinonime  adamánt s. n., pl …   Dicționar Român

  • adamant — Its use as an adjective meaning ‘stubbornly unshakeable or inflexible’ is surprisingly recent (1930s); as a noun meaning a hard rock or mineral it goes back to the time of King Alfred, originally as a vague term often imbued with fabulous… …   Modern English usage

  • adamant — [adj1] unyielding determined, firm, fixed, hanging tough*, hard nosed, immovable, inexorable, inflexible, insistent, intransigent, obdurate, pat*, relentless, resolute, rigid, set, set in stone*, standing pat*, stiff, stubborn, unbendable,… …   New thesaurus

  • adamant — I adjective callous, firm, frozen, hard hearted, immovable, immutable, implacable, inelastic, inexorable, inflexible, intractable, irreconcilable, merciless, obdurate, persistent, pertinacious, resolute, rigid, stationary, stiff, stubborn, tough …   Law dictionary

  • adamant — adamant, adamantine obdurate, inexorable, *inflexible Analogous words: unyielding, unsubmitting (see affirmative verbs at YIELD): immovable, immobile (see affirmative adjectives at MOVABLE): *grim, implacable, unrelenting Antonyms: yielding… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • adamant — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ refusing to be persuaded or to change one s mind. DERIVATIVES adamantly adverb. ORIGIN Greek adamas untameable, invincible …   English terms dictionary

  • adamant — [ad′ə mənt, ad′əmant΄] n. [ME & OFr < L adamas (gen. adamantis), the hardest metal < Gr adamas (gen. adamantos) < a , not + daman, to subdue: see TAME] 1. in ancient times, a hard stone or substance that was supposedly unbreakable 2. Old …   English World dictionary

  • Adamant — Adamantand similar words are used to refer to any especially hard substance, whether composed of diamond, some other gemstone, or some type of metal. Both adamant and diamond derive from the Greek word αδαμας ( adamas ), meaning untameable .… …   Wikipedia

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