▪ I. asphalt
(ˈæsfælt, -fɔːlt, æsˈfælt)
Forms: 4 aspaltoun, aspalt, 6 aspallto, 7 asphalta, 7–8 asphaltos, -us, 8– asphaltum, asphalt; also 9 asphalte.
[Has been used in many forms: αin ME. a. OF. *aspaltoun, *aspalt (It. aspalto, Pr. asfalto), ad. late L. asphalton, -tum, a. Gr. ἄσϕαλτον, var. of ἄσϕαλτος, a word of foreign origin; βfrom 17th c. in the Gr. and L. forms asphaltos, -us, -um, the last established in scientific use; γin recent times, a. mod.Fr. asphalte. Bailey, Johnson, and Todd knew only asphaltos, -um; Craig, 1847, has asˈphalt, but since asphalt pavement became familiar, ˈasphalt has become usual.]
1. A bituminous substance, found in many parts of the world, a smooth, hard, brittle, black or brownish-black resinous mineral, consisting of a mixture of different hydrocarbons; called also mineral pitch, Jews' pitch, and in the O.T. ‘slime.’
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1038 Þe spumande aspaltoun þat spyserez sellen. 1366 Mandeville ix. 100 It castethe out of the Watre a thing that men clepen Aspalt. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xix. (1495) 559 Asphaltis glewe of Iudea is erthe of blacke colour and is heuy and stinkynge. 1560 Whitehorne Ord. Souldiours (1573) 46 b, For every porcion of such thinges, [taking] five of aspallto. 1653 H. Cogan Diod. Sic. 77 The infinite quantity of Asphalta or Bytumen which grows there [Babylon]. 1657 Tomlinson Renou's Disp. 674 Asphaltos, or dense Bitumen. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 729 Blazing Cressets fed With Naphtha and Asphaltus. 1714 Fr. Bk. of Rates 89 Asphaltum per 100 weight. 1751 Chambers Cycl., Asphaltos or Asphaltum. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 727 Amber and asphaltum, or bitumen of Judea. 1799 Kirwan Geol. Ess. 326 A whole lake of asphalt is said to exist in the Isle of Trinidad. 1870 Yeats Nat. Hist. Comm. 370 Bitumen, or Asphalte, is an inspissated mineral oil. |
b. attrib.
| 1752 Foote Taste i. i, The salutary application of the Asphaltum-pot. 1872 F. L. Pope Telegraph i. 19 Coat the zincs with asphaltum varnish. |
2. A composition made by mixing bitumen, pitch, and sand, or manufactured from natural bituminous limestones, used to pave streets and walks, to line cisterns, etc. Mostly attrib.
| 1847 Nat. Encycl. II. 267/1 The Seyssel asphalte introduced into this country by Mr. Claridge..in 1837. 1860 Dickens Uncomm. Trav. (C.D. ed.) iv. 18 Asphalt pavements substituted for wooden floors. 1864 Browning App. Failure 36 Some arch, where twelve such slept abreast, Unless the plain asphalte seemed best. 1881 Grant White England ii. 29 An asphaltum path. |
b. artificial asphaltum: a mixture of the thick pitchy residue of coal-tar with sand, chalk, or lime, used for the same purposes as the preceding.
| 1875 Ure Dict. Arts I. 258. |
3. Comb. asphalt-like a.
| 1837–68 Dana Min. 751 Solid asphalt-like substances soluble in ether and not in alcohol. |
▪ II. asphalt, v.
(æsˈfælt)
[f. prec.]
To cover or lay with asphalt.
| 1872 City Press 6 Apr. (Comm. Council) A most opportune time for asphalting the thoroughfare. 1884 Rideing in Harper's Mag. Mar. 526/2 The streets are..asphalted. |