Standard Lemma guide

perlite

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.

  • homophone: pearlite
  • CMU ARPABET: P ER1 L AY0 T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An amorphous volcanic glass formed by the hydration of obsidian.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: chemistry, geography, geology, mineralogy, natural-sciences, physical-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: pearlstone

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The lightweight insulating material and aggregate resulting from expanding perlite glass by heat.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From French perle (“pearl”) + -ite.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: perlita — perlite
  • Chinese Mandarin: 珍珠岩 (zhēnzhūyán) — perlite
  • Finnish: perliitti — perlite
  • French: perlite — perlite
  • German: Perlit — perlite
  • Greek: περλίτης (perlítis) — perlite
  • Indonesian: perlit — perlite
  • Italian: perlite — perlite
  • Polish: perlit — perlite
  • Portuguese: perlita — perlite
  • Romanian: perlită — perlite
  • Spanish: perlita — perlite
  • Turkish: perlit — perlite