Cement

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /səˈmɛnt/

Definitions

1. A binding substance made from powdered limestone and clay that hardens when mixed with water, used in construction to join materials together
2. A powdery material composed of limestone and clay that becomes solid when mixed with water, utilized in building as a bonding agent for different substances
3. A strong substance created from calcined limestone and clay that solidifies upon hydration, commonly used in the construction industry to adhere components

Etymology: Long before it meant a grey powder mixed into concrete, the root behind "cement" was about cutting. The Latin "caementum" referred to rough stone chips, the rubble left over when stone was hewn, and it came from the verb "caedere", "to cut, hew". Those broken fragments were used in building walls, which is how a word for debris came to name a binding material. The English form passed through Old French "ciment", which kept the sense of a mortar-like substance, and reached Middle English as "syment" or "cyment". Along the way, the word split into a pair of forms that share a source: "cement" and "cementum", the latter a term for the hard bonelike layer that coats the root of a tooth. Both trace back to the same Latin stone-chipping word.

Synonyms: concrete, mortar