skiffer

English

Etymology

Presumably Swedish skiffer.

Noun

skiffer (plural skiffer)

1. (geology, paleontology, possibly obsolete) Slate.
   • 1905, Norges geologiske undersøkelse, NGU:

     It presents the obverve aspect, and this is well marked and characteristic. Range. D. gibberulus is a common species in the Upper Phyllograptus-skiffer of Scania, and in the Middle Arenig beds of Britain, underlying the zone of D. bifidus.

   • 1906, The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, Geological Society of London, page 696:

     ... and the Cyrtograptus - Skiffer of Scania. The Rastrites - Skiffer have been divided by Prof. Törnquist into six zones; and the assemblage of species of each of these agrees closely with that of the five zones of our Llandovery Series, and with ...

   • 1914, Vickers Oberholtzer, The Rocks of Oland, Geologically Considered, page 9:

     Moberg reports finding in the Dictyonema shales the trilobites, Ceratopyge forficula and Shumardia pusilla which have also been found in the Ceratopyge skiffer of Norway, […] the only species of trilobite as yet found in the Dictyonema skiffer of Sweden proper;

   • 2014, Charles Francis Hall, Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition Made by Charles F. Hall, Cambridge University Press (→ISBN), page 582:

     The occurrence of this common Utica slate species so far north is interesting, and, taken with its appearance in the Trinuclid Skiffer of Sweden (Linnarsson, loc. cit, p. 70, fig. 27), where it is also of the same small size as here, gives it a wide […]

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Schiefer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɧɪfɛr/

Noun

skiffer c

1. (geology) slate

Declension

Declension of skiffer
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	skiffer	skiffern	skiffrar	skiffrarna
Genitive	skiffers	skifferns	skiffrars	skiffrarnas

Derived terms

• skifferbrott (“slate quarry”)
• skiffergrå (“slate gray”)

References

• skiffer in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• skiffer in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• skiffer in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)