Standard Lemma guide

diatomite

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /daɪˈæt.əˌmaɪt/

1

noun

Meaning 1

A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a light soil consisting of siliceous diatom remains and often used as a filtering material

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: diatomaceous earth, kieselguhr

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: filter, earth, ground

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English diatom Proto-Indo-European *-tósder. Ancient Greek -της (-tēs)der. Ancient Greek -ῑ́της (-ī́tēs)der. Latin -ītēsbor. French -iteder. English -ite English diatomite From diatom + -ite.

Across languages

Translations

8 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: diatomita — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms
  • Finnish: piilevämaa — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms
  • Finnish: piimaa — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms
  • French: diatomite — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms
  • Galician: diatomita — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms
  • Greek: διατομίτης (diatomítis) — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms
  • Japanese: 珪藻土 (keisōdo) — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms
  • Spanish: diatomita — A fine, powdery earth formed from the skeletons of diatoms