GYPSUM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does gypsum mean? 

• GYPSUM (noun)
  The noun GYPSUM has 1 sense:

1. a common white or colorless mineral (hydrated calcium sulphate) used to make cements and plasters (especially plaster of Paris)

  Familiarity information: GYPSUM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GYPSUM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A common white or colorless mineral (hydrated calcium sulphate) used to make cements and plasters (especially plaster of Paris)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("gypsum" is a kind of...):

mineral (solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition)

calcium sulfate; calcium sulphate (a white salt (CaSO4))

Meronyms (substance of "gypsum"):

atomic number 20; Ca; calcium (a white metallic element that burns with a brilliant light; the fifth most abundant element in the earth's crust; an important component of most plants and animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "gypsum"):

alabaster (a compact fine-textured, usually white gypsum used for carving)

gesso (gypsum or plaster of Paris spread on a surface to make it suitable for painting or gilding (or a surface so prepared))

terra alba (finely pulverized gypsum used especially as a pigment)

Holonyms ("gypsum" is a substance of...):

plaster; plaster of Paris (any of several gypsum cements; a white powder (a form of calcium sulphate) that forms a paste when mixed with water and hardens into a solid; used in making molds and sculptures and casts for broken limbs)

 Context examples 

When gypsum forms, water molecules are incorporated directly into its crystalline structure, and this water records the different isotopes that were present in the ancient lake water at the time of its formation.

(Scientists measure severity of drought during the Maya collapse, University of Cambridge)

Now, the researchers analysed the different isotopes of water trapped within the crystal structure of the gypsum to determine changes in rainfall and relative humidity during the Maya downfall.

(Scientists measure severity of drought during the Maya collapse, University of Cambridge)

By mapping the proportion of the different isotopes contained within each layer of gypsum, the researchers were able to build a model to estimate past changes in rainfall and relative humidity over the period of the Maya collapse.

(Scientists measure severity of drought during the Maya collapse, University of Cambridge)

Researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Florida developed a method to measure the different isotopes of water trapped in gypsum, a mineral that forms during times of drought when the water level is lowered, in Lake Chichancanab in Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula where the Maya were based.

(Scientists measure severity of drought during the Maya collapse, University of Cambridge)