adamantine (adj.)

"made of adamant; having the qualities of adamant" (hard, unyielding, unbreakable, inflexible), c. 1200, from Latin adamantinus "hard as steel, inflexible," from Greek adamantinos "hard as adamant," from adamas (genitive adamantos) "unbreakable, inflexible," as a noun, "hardest material" (see adamant (n.)).

Entries linking to adamantine

adamant (n.)

Old English aðamans "a very hard stone;" the modern word is a mid-14c. borrowing of Old French adamant "diamond; magnet" or directly from Latin adamantem (nominative adamas) "adamant, hardest iron, steel," also used figuratively, of character, from Greek adamas (genitive adamantos), name of a hypothetical hardest material, noun use of an adjective meaning "unbreakable, inflexible," which was metaphoric of anything unalterable (such as Hades), a word of uncertain origin.

It is perhaps literally "invincible, indomitable," from a- "not" (see a- (3)) + daman "to conquer, to tame," from PIE root *deme- "to constrain, force, break (horses)" (see tame (adj.)). "But semantically, the etymology is rather strange," according to Beekes, who suggests it might be a foreign word altered in Greek by folk etymology, and compares Akkadian (Semitic) adamu.

Applied in antiquity to a metal resembling gold (Plato), white sapphire (Pliny), magnet (Ovid, perhaps through confusion with Latin adamare "to love passionately"), steel, emery stone, and especially diamond, which is a variant of this word. "The name has thus always been of indefinite and fluctuating sense" [Century Dictionary].

Share adamantine

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/adamantine

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/adamantine">Etymology of adamantine by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of adamantine. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/adamantine

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of adamantine,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/adamantine.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of adamantine.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/adamantine. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of adamantine.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/adamantine (accessed $(datetime)).

Definitions of adamantine

adamantine (adj.)

consisting of or having the hardness of adamant;

adamantine (adj.)

having the hardness of a diamond;

adamantine (adj.)

impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason; "Cynthia was inexorable; she would have none of him"- W.Churchill;

Synonyms: adamant / inexorable / intransigent

From wordnet.princeton.edu

Dictionary entries near adamantine

adage

adagio

Adam

Adam's apple

adamant

adamantine

Adamite

adapt

adaptability

adaptable

adaptation