igneous
You might remember this one from earth science class. An igneous rock is one that forms through intense, fiery heat — usually in a volcano. It starts out molten (so hot it melts into liquid), then solidifies as it cools. So, it’s rock that has “ignited.”
Igneous comes from the Latin ignis, "fire." Granite and basalt are good examples of igneous rock that started out as blazing hot lava and morphed into harder stuff as their temperature dropped. FYI, the other main types of rocks are sedimentary and metamorphic and, technically, you could use igneous to describe other things that are rare or fiery, but it would sound pretty stilted and most people wouldn’t know what you meant.
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produced by the action of fire or intense heat
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produced under conditions involving intense heat“igneous rock is rock formed by solidification from a molten state”“igneous fusion is fusion by heat alone”synonyms: pyrogenic, pyrogenous
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like or suggestive of fire
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Vocabulary lists containing igneous
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The ancients believed that the universe was composed of five basic elements: earth, air, fire, water, and sky. The Greek and Latin words for these elements still show up in our language today. Learn these words that come from the Latin word ignis, meaning "fire." Here are links to our complete set of Elements of the Universe lists: Cosm, Cosmo ("Universe") / Terr, Terra ("Earth") / Geo ("Earth") / Hydr, Hydro ("Water") / Aqua ("Water") / Ign, Igni ("Fire") / Pyr, Pyro ("Fire") / Aer, Aero ("Air") / Aether ("Sky") / Aster, Astro ("Star") / Sol ("Sun")