adjective · rare

adamantine

ada·mant·ine

adamantine · more adamantine · most adamantine

Synonym of adamantSynonym of adamant.: Made of adamant (“an unspecified mineral or rock of virtually impenetrable hardness”).

UK/ˌædəˈmæntaɪn/US/ˌædəˈmænˌtaɪn/

Meaning

6 senses

Synonym of adamant.
Made of adamant (“an unspecified mineral or rock of virtually impenetrable hardness”).
consisting of or having the hardness of adamant
(figuratively)Incapable of being broken, dissolved, or penetrated; impenetrable, unbreakable.
adamantine bonds adamantine chains
(figuratively)Difficult to defeat or prevail over; unshakable, unyielding.
(figuratively)Of a person: refusing to change one's mind; obstinate, stubborn.
Like diamond in lustre; bright, lustrous, shiny; also, of a lustre: like that of a mineral with a high refractive index such as diamond.
Synonym of adamant.
(figuratively, obsolete)Having the quality of attracting or drawing; attractive, magnetic.

Origin

From Middle English adamantine, adamantyne, adamauntyn (“(adjective) of adamant; (noun) ad

From Middle English adamantine, adamantyne, adamauntyn (“(adjective) of adamant; (noun) adamant”), from Anglo-Norman adamantin and Middle French adamantin (“of or resembling adamant or diamond”) (modern French adamantin), and from its etymon Latin adamantinus (“adamantine”), from Ancient Greek ἀδᾰμάντῐνος (adămántĭnos, “hard as adamant; made of steel”), from ᾰ̓δᾰμᾰντ- (ădămănt-) (a stem of ἀδάμᾱς (adámās, “the hardest metal (probably steel); diamond”), possibly originally Semitic) + -ῐνος (-ĭnos, suffix meaning ‘made of’ forming adjectives). By surface analysis, adamant + -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).

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