a blackish soft allotropic form of carbon in hexagonal crystalline form: used in pencils, crucibles, and electrodes, as a lubricant, as a moderator in nuclear reactors, and, in a carbon fibre form, as a tough lightweight material for sporting equipment
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
graph•ite /ˈgræfaɪt/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Mineralogya soft form of carbon occurring in black to dark gray masses, used for pencil leads and as a lubricant.
graph•ite
(graf′īt),USA pronunciation n.
gra•phit•ic
(grə fit′ik),USA pronunciation adj.
- Mineralogya very common mineral, soft native carbon, occurring in black to dark-gray foliated masses, with metallic luster and greasy feel: used for pencil leads, as a lubricant, and for making crucibles and other refractories; plumbago;
black lead.
- Greek gráph(ein) to write, draw + German -it -ite1
- German Graphit
- 1790–1800
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'graphite' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Aquadag
- advanced gas-cooled reactor
- allotrope
- appearance
- black lead
- boron nitride
- brass rubbing
- carbon
- conte
- gas-cooled reactor
- graphalloy
- graphite cloth
- graphitize
- gray iron
- kish
- lead
- lead pencil
- magnox reactor
- malleablize
- mixed media
- moderator
- nodular cast iron
- pencil
- plumbaginous
- plumbago
- reflector
- rubbing