noun · verb · 7 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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/tælk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ælk
CMU ARPABET:T AE1 L K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Originally a large range of transparent or glistening foliated minerals. Examples include mica, selenite and the hydrated magnesium silicate that the term talc generally has referred to in modern times (see below). Also an item made of such a mineral and depending for its function on the special nature of the mineral (see next). Medieval writers adopted the term from the Arabic.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A microscope slide made of a plate of mica, generally in use from the start of modern microscopy until the early nineteenth century, after which glass slides became the standard medium.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A soft mineral, composed of hydrated magnesium silicate, that has a soapy feel and a greenish, whitish, or grayish color, and usually occurs in foliated masses.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
Talcum powder.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
verb
Meaning 5
To apply talc to.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
a fine grained mineral having a soft soapy feel and consisting of hydrated magnesium silicate; used in a variety of products including talcum powder
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: talcum
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: mineral
Narrower terms: soapstone, soaprock, soap-rock, steatite, French chalk, rensselaerite
7
verb
Meaning 7
apply talcum powder to (one's body)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: powder
History
Etymology
From Middle French talc, from Arabic طَلْق (ṭalq), from Persian تلک (talk), from Middle Persian [Term?] (“medicament”).
Across languages
Translations
34 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
талк
(talk)
— soft mineral
Bulgarian:
стеатит
(steatit)
— soft mineral
Catalan:
talc
— soft mineral
Chinese Mandarin:
滑石
(huáshí)
— soft mineral
Czech:
mastek
— soft mineral
Czech:
klouzek
— soft mineral
Czech:
talek
— soft mineral
Esperanto:
talko
— soft mineral
Faroese:
tálk
— soft mineral
Finnish:
talkki
— soft mineral
French:
talc
— soft mineral
Friulian:
talc
— soft mineral
German:
Talk
— soft mineral
Greek:
τάλκης
(tálkis)
— soft mineral
Ancient Greek:
κουφολίθος
(koupholíthos)
— soft mineral
