different between granular vs rockfill

English

Etymology

From granule +? -ar. Compare French granulaire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???æn.j?.l?(?)/

Adjective

granular (comparative more granular, superlative most granular)

1. Consisting of, or resembling, granules or grains

   a granular substance

2. grainy

   It has a granular structure

   • 1790, Abraham Mills, Some Strata in Ireland and Scotland, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 80

     This Whyn Dyke is bare at the cliffs ?everal yards in height, and is near nine feet in width. It con?i?ts of an inner part of a granular and ?omewhat porous texture...

Usage notes

• It is common to speak of things being "more granular" or "less granular", but this is potentially confusing: something "granular" is composed of small, discrete entities as opposed to being continuous, which is primarily a binary distinction, not a matter of degree. Moreover, it is unclear if "more granular" and "less granular" indicate finer or coarser granularity. For example, granular sugar is so called because it consists of relatively large grains, in contrast with powdered sugar, so "more granular" sugar might be coarser, like a grainier or "more granular" photograph with larger and thus more visible grains. In other cases, "more granular" indicates finer, more plentiful grains or divisions. For clarity, one can refer specifically to finer or coarser granularity. In the superlative, one may refer to finest or coarsest granularity.

Synonyms

• granulous; see also Thesaurus:granular

Derived terms

• granularity

Related terms

• coarse-grained
• fine-grained
• grain
• granulate
• granulation
• granule

Translations

References

• granular in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• granular in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Merriam-Webster OnLine 2008

Interlingua

Adjective

granular (not comparable)

1. granular (in the shape of grains)

Romanian

Etymology

From French granulaire

Adjective

granular m or n (feminine singular granular?, masculine plural granulari, feminine and neuter plural granulare)

1. granular

Declension

Spanish

Adjective

granular (plural granulares)

1. granular

Verb

granular (first-person singular present granulo, first-person singular preterite granulé, past participle granulado)

1. to granulate

Conjugation

English

Etymology

rock +? fill

Noun

rockfill (countable and uncountable, plural rockfills)

1. A dam's embankment of compacted free-draining granular earth, often containing rocks, with an impervious zone.

Anagrams

• frollick