Gran"ite (?), n. [It. granito granite, adj.,
grainy, p. p.
of granire to make grainy, fr. L. granum grain; cf. F. granit. See Grain.]
(Geol.) A
crystalline, granular rock, consisting of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and usually of a whitish,
grayish, or flesh-red color. It differs from gneiss in not having
the mica in
planes, and therefore in being destitute of a schistose structure.
&fist; Varieties containing hornblende are common. See also the Note under Mica.
Gneissoid granite,
granite in which the mica has traces of a regular
arrangement. -- Graphic granite, granite consisting of quartz and feldspar without mica, and having the quartz crystals so arranged in the transverse section like oriental characters.
-- Porphyritic granite, granite
containing feldspar in distinct crystals. -- Hornblende granite,
or Syenitic granite, granite
containing hornblende as well as mica,
or, according to some authorities hornblende replacing the mica. -- Granite ware. (a) A kind of stoneware. (b) A Kind of ironware, coated with an enamel resembling granite.
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