Wordwyrt

adamant

/ˈædəmənt/A-duh-muhnt
/ˈædəmənt/A-duh-muhnt

Meaningunconquerable substance

Common meaning: firmly determined

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√DAM‘tame’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 150, p. 735 · scan
  2. Greekadamas‘unconquerable substance’source
  3. Latinadamanta‘very hard substance’source
  4. Old Frenchmeaning shiftsvery hard substance → diamondadamant‘diamond’source
  5. Middle Englishadamaunt‘diamond’source
  6. Englishmeaning shiftsdiamond → firmly determinedadamant‘firmly determined’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek adamas ‘unconquerable substance’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry ADAMANT, p. 8 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • adamas Greek “unconquerable substance”

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