-lith

A stone or stony structure.

[Greek lithos, stone.]

Examples in which this ending refers to types of rock include regolith (Greek rhēgos, rug, blanket), the layer of unconsolidated solid material covering the bedrock of a planet; batholith (Greek bathos, depth), a very large igneous intrusion extending to an unknown depth in the earth's crust; laccolith (Greek lakkos, reservoir), a mass of igneous rock that has been intruded between rock strata, causing uplift in the shape of a dome.

Word in which the sense is of something constructed of stone include megalith (Greek megas, great), a large stone that forms a prehistoric monument or part of one; and monolith (Greek monos, single), a large single upright block of stone, especially a pillar or monument.

Other examples occur in the life sciences, including otolith (Greek ous, ōt-, ear), a small calcareous body in the inner ear, involved in sensing gravity and movement; phytolith (Greek phuton, a plant), either a minute mineral particle formed inside a plant, or a fossilized particle of plant tissue; gastrolith, a small stone swallowed by an animal to aid digestion in the gizzard, or in medicine a hard concretion in the stomach.

For related adjectives, see the next entry.

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