| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| meerschaum |
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| SYLLABICATION: | meer·schaum |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  mîr sh m, -shôm |
| NOUN: | 1. A fine, compact, usually white claylike mineral of hydrous magnesium silicate, H4Mg2Si3O10, found in the Mediterranean area and used in fashioning tobacco pipes and as a building stone. Also called sepiolite. 2. A tobacco pipe with a bowl made of this mineral. | | ETYMOLOGY: | German : Meer, sea (from Middle High German mer, from Old High German mari; see mori- in Appendix I) + Schaum, foam (from Middle High German sch m, from Old High German scm; see (s)keu- in Appendix I).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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