English Explanatory Dictionary

adamant

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Firm; unshakeable; unyielding; determined.
  2. Very difficult to break, pierce, or cut.
noun
  1. An unspecified mineral or rock of virtually impenetrable hardness.
  2. In later use: diamond.
  3. In later use: a lodestone.
  4. A substance that neutralizes lodestones.
  5. Chiefly in of adamant: an embodiment of impenetrable hardness; the quality of not being easily destroyed or overcome; impenetrableness, imperviousness, impregnableness; also, of a person: the quality of not being easily affected emotionally; impassiveness, unmovableness.
  6. A person or thing having the quality of attracting or drawing; a lodestone, a magnet.

Pronunciation

/ˈæd.ə.mənt/ /ˈæd.ə.mænt/ En-us-adamant.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Simplificationalizer-adamant.wav /ˈæ.ɖə.mᵻnʈ/ /ˈə.ɖə.mᵻnʈ/

Word forms

adamant more adamant most adamant adamaunt adamants

Etymology

From Middle English adamant, adamaunt, from Latin adamantem, accusative singular form of adamās (“hard as steel”), from Ancient Greek ἀδάμας (adámas, “invincible”), from ἀ- (a-, “not”) + δαμάζω (damázō, “to tame”) or of Semitic origin. Doublet of diamond.

Synonyms

impassivity impenetrability impregnability unmovability

Related words

unobtainium

Derived words

adamance adamantane adamantean adamantic adamantine adamantium adamantize adamantly

Translations

Chinese Mandarin: 金剛石 /金刚石 Dutch: adamant Galician: adamantium Galician: adamante German: Adamant Irish: adhmaint Italian: adamantino Japanese: 金剛 Lithuanian: adamantas Polish: adamant Portuguese: adamante Russian: адамант Spanish: adamante Swedish: adamant Tagalog: adamantina
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