[mass noun]a dark fine-grained volcanic rock that sometimes displays a columnar structure. It is typically composed largely of plagioclase with pyroxene and olivine 玄武岩 ■a kind of black stoneware developed by Josiah Wedgwood (乔赛亚•韦奇伍德设计的)似玄武岩的黑色陶器
派生 basaltic [bəˈsɔːltɪk] adjective 语源
early 17th cent. (in the Latin form): from Latin basaltes (variant of basanites), from Greek basanitēs, from basanos 'touchstone'