tufa

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a soft porous rock consisting of calcium carbonate deposited from springs rich in lime
noun hard volcanic rock composed of compacted volcanic ash

From Italian tufo, from Latin tōfus or tōphus. Doublet of tuff.

Three of these recumbent figures are of colossal size, hewn out of the tufa rock and painted. — In Château Land, Anne Hollingsworth Wharton
Where formerly sprang up that charming verdure, the soil was now nothing but a savage mass of volcanic tufa. — The Mysterious Island, Jules Verne
But these all ended in one large circular hall with a square pedestal of tufa topped with a slab of marble at one end of it. — Tales of Terror and Mystery, Arthur Conan Doyle

calc-tufa

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning