Rockhound

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who pursues the collection and examination of geological specimens, particularly rocks and minerals
2. A person who avidly seeks out and gathers different types of stones and geological materials for hobby or study
3. A person passionate about finding and keeping various natural stones and minerals as a hobby or for research

Etymology: Geologists working for early oil companies had a set of cheeky nicknames for themselves, among them "sand smeller," "oil witch," "wrinkle chaser," and "pebble pup." "Rockhound" belongs to that group. The joke is the comparison: a geologist, like a hound on a scent, sniffs out something valuable hidden among the rocks, whether that is oil or a useful mineral deposit. The word was in use by the 1910s, and it spread beyond the oil fields largely through a 1921 story called "The Rockhound," published in Cosmopolitan magazine, which helped fix the term in popular speech. Within a few years it was appearing in Harper's Magazine and in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Over time it lost its professional association and came to name the amateur who collects stones for pleasure, the sense the word carries today.

Synonyms: geologist, miner, fossil hunter, gemologist