phonolite Min.
(ˈfəʊnəlaɪt)
Also -lyte (Dana).
[f. phono- + -lite; in F. phonolithe (1812 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
Name for various volcanic rocks which ring when struck; clinkstone.
| 1828–32 Webster, Phonolite, sounding stone; a name proposed as a substitute for klingstein (jingling stone). 1832 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. (ed. 2) 251 Rolled masses of trachyte, phonolite, basalt, or volcanic cinders. 1868–80 Dana Min. 359 Phonolyte (or clinkstone), a compact grayish rock, often containing crystals of glassy feldspar, and having a zeolite in the base along with orthoclase. |
Hence phonolitic (fəʊnəʊˈlɪtɪk) a., pertaining to or consisting of phonolite.
| 1852 Th. Ross Humboldt's Trav. I. ii. 99 The phonolitic ejections of the Peak of Teneriffe. 1875 A. Smith New Hist. Aberdeen. I. 644 Clinkstone or phonolitic felspar. |