Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An asbestos with fine, silky fibers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Min.) Earth flax, or mountain flax; a soft silky variety of asbestus.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a type of asbestos with long, soft, thin fibers

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin amiantus, from Greek amiantos, undefiled : a-, not; see a– + miantos, defiled (from miainein, to defile).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek ἀμίαντος (amiantos, "undefiled"), from ἀ- ("not") + μιαίνω ("I defile").

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