volcanic

From French volcanique, from volcan (“volcano”); and/or directly from volcan(o) +‎ -ic.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /vɒlˈkænɪk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vɔlˈkænɪk/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /vɑlˈkænɪk/
• Rhymes: -ænɪk
• Hyphenation: vol‧can‧ic

volcanic (not comparable)

1. Of or pertaining to a volcano or volcanoes.

   volcanic heat

   volcanic activity

   • 2022 February 3, Lucas Joel, “Dissolving in Toxic Oceans: How an Ancient Extinction Happened”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 March 2022:

     Some 200 million years ago, the rocks that became the Palisades cliffs just across the Hudson River from Manhattan formed during volcanic activity that helped rip apart the ancient supercontinent Pangea. That volcanism helped lead to the birth of the Atlantic Ocean while it also contributed to killing off as much as a quarter of all life on Earth during the event known as the end-Triassic mass extinction.

2. Produced by a volcano, or, more generally, by igneous agencies.

   volcanic tufa

   volcanic ash

3. Changed or affected by the heat of a volcano.
4. (figurative) Reminiscent of a volcano; explosive, violent, full of suppressed anger, energy etc.
   • 1980 August 2, Andrea F. Loewenstein, “Random Lust”, in Gay Community News, page 15:

     Jo rose indignified, Vanessa following in her volcanic wake.

   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 556:

     With that the system was complete, and ready to have its disastrous effect on Martin Luther's volcanic temper.

• (of or related to volcanoes): volcanian, Vulcanian

• cryovolcanic

volcanic (plural volcanics)

1. A volcanic rock.

   The Ellesmere Island Volcanics are a Late Cretaceous volcanic group of volcanoes and lava flows in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of northern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada.

volcanic m (feminine singular volcanica, masculine plural volcanics, feminine plural volcanicas)

1. volcanic

• Diccionari General de la Lenga Occitana‎^[2], L’Academia occitana – Consistòri del Gai Saber, 2008-2025, page 739

volcanic m or n (feminine singular volcanică, masculine plural volcanici, feminine/neuter plural volcanice)

1. obsolete form of vulcanic

• volcanic in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN