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
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈstælæktaɪt/
Received-Pronunciation:/-lək-/
Received-Pronunciation:/stəˈlæktaɪt/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/stəˈlækˌtaɪt/
General-American:/ˈstæləkˌtaɪt/
1
noun
Meaning 1
A secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or another mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that hangs from the roof of a cave.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
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 cylinder of calcium carbonate hanging from the roof of a limestone cave
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cylinder
History
Etymology
From New Latin stalactites, from Ancient Greek σταλακτός (stalaktós, “dripping; dropping”) + Latin -ītēs (suffix with the sense ‘belonging to’ forming adjectives) (modelled after the names of stones ending in -ites). Σταλακτός (Stalaktós) is derived from σταλάσσειν (stalássein, “to drip; to let (something) drip”) + -τός (-tós, suffix forming adjectives denoting possibility from verbs).
Across languages
Translations
45 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
շթաքար
(štʻakʻar)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Belarusian:
сталакты́т
(stalaktýt)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Belarusian:
сталякты́т
(staljaktýt)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Bulgarian:
сталакти́т
(stalaktít)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Catalan:
estalactita
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Catalan:
caramell
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Chinese Mandarin:
鐘乳石 /钟乳石
(zhōngrǔshí)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Czech:
stalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Dutch:
druipsteenpegel
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Dutch:
druipsteen
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Esperanto:
stalaktito
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Faroese:
dropasteinur
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Finnish:
tippukivipuikko
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Finnish:
stalaktiitti
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
French:
stalactite
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Georgian:
სტალაქტიტი
(sṭalakṭiṭi)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
German:
Stalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Greek:
σταλακτίτης
(stalaktítis)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Hebrew:
נָטִיף
(natíf)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Hungarian:
sztalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Icelandic:
dropasteinn
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Indonesian:
stalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Irish:
aolchuisne
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Italian:
stalattite
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Japanese:
鍾乳石
(shōnyūseki)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Korean:
종유석
(jong'yuseok)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Latvian:
stalaktīts
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Māori:
keoiri
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Polish:
sopleniec
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Polish:
stalaktyt
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Portuguese:
estalactite
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Russian:
сталакти́т
(stalaktít)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Slovak:
stalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Slovene:
stalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Spanish:
estalactita
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Swedish:
stalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Tagalog:
estalaktita
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Tagalog:
tulumbato
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Thai:
หินย้อย
(hǐn-yɔ́ɔi)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Turkish:
sarkıt
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Turkish:
damla taş
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Turkish:
stalaktit
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Ukrainian:
сталакти́т
(stalaktýt)
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Vietnamese:
thạch nhũ
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
Vietnamese:
nhũ đá
— mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave
