gneiss
noun
ˈnīs 
: a foliated metamorphic rock corresponding in composition to a feldspathic plutonic rock (such as granite)
gneissic
ˈnī-sik
adjective gneissoid
ˈnī-ˌsȯid
adjective gneissose
ˈnī-ˌsōs
adjective 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Black Canyon is a park of extremes, both fertile springtime folly and menacing gash of gneiss and schist. 
Emily Pennington, Outside Online, 28 Aug. 2020 The bones of this place—Lewisian gneiss rock, the oldest in Europe—protruded like ribs through a thin skin of heather and gorse. Stanley Stewart, Travel + Leisure, 22 Mar. 2021 In the fall, brothers Chris and Dominic Leong fashioned a trio of gneiss stone vessels — cubelike with curved edges and, crucially, airtight lids. Kate Guadagnino, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2020 Buried in the earth were remnants of fragments of the same type of rock that makes up the Callanish stones—called Lewisian gneiss—which, unlike the peat and clays that stud the island’s dirt, are poor conductors of electricity. Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2019 The near-seamless local bedrock, a type of rock called gneiss, is geologically stable and keeps water out. Andrew Curry, The Atlantic, 11 Sep. 2017 The gneiss was also used to create the low stone walls that bring definition to the estate’s exterior walkways. USA TODAY, 11 Aug. 2017 The falls are a 62-foot-high double-plunge along a granitic gneiss ledge. Peter Marteka, courant.com, 17 May 2017 See More
Emily Pennington, Outside Online, 28 Aug. 2020 The bones of this place—Lewisian gneiss rock, the oldest in Europe—protruded like ribs through a thin skin of heather and gorse. Stanley Stewart, Travel + Leisure, 22 Mar. 2021 In the fall, brothers Chris and Dominic Leong fashioned a trio of gneiss stone vessels — cubelike with curved edges and, crucially, airtight lids. Kate Guadagnino, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2020 Buried in the earth were remnants of fragments of the same type of rock that makes up the Callanish stones—called Lewisian gneiss—which, unlike the peat and clays that stud the island’s dirt, are poor conductors of electricity. Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 31 Dec. 2019 The near-seamless local bedrock, a type of rock called gneiss, is geologically stable and keeps water out. Andrew Curry, The Atlantic, 11 Sep. 2017 The gneiss was also used to create the low stone walls that bring definition to the estate’s exterior walkways. USA TODAY, 11 Aug. 2017 The falls are a 62-foot-high double-plunge along a granitic gneiss ledge. Peter Marteka, courant.com, 17 May 2017 See More Word History
Etymology
German Gneis, alteration of Middle High German gneiste spark, from Old High German gneisto; akin to Old English fȳrgnāst spark
First Known Use
1757, in the meaning defined above