kieselguhr

English

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kieselguhr, from Kiesel (“pebble, gravel”) +‎ Guhr (“guhr”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkiːzəlɡʊə/

Noun

kieselguhr (countable and uncountable, plural kieselguhrs)

1. Diatomaceous earth, a kind of soft rock containing the remains of diatoms; it absorbs nitroglycerine and is used to manufacture dynamite.
   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, “Iceland Spar”, in Against the Day, New York, N.Y.: Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 171:

     It was the only name anybody seemed to know him by, “Kieselguhr” being a kind of fine clay, used to soak up nitroglycerine and stabilize it into dynamite.

French

Noun

kieselguhr m (plural kieselguhrs)

1. kieselguhr, diatomaceous earth

   Synonyms: terre d’infusoires, terre diatomée

Further reading

• “kieselguhr”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.