Main Entry:: ¹ce·ment
Pronunciation:: \si-ˈment also ˈsē-ment\
Function:: noun
Etymology:: Middle English sement, from Anglo-French ciment, from Latin caementum stone chips used in making mortar, from caedere to cut
Date:: 14th century

1 a: concrete b: a powder of alumina, silica, lime, iron oxide, and magnesium oxide burned together in a kiln and finely pulverized and used as an ingredient of mortar and concrete; also : any mixture used for a similar purpose2: a binding element or agency: as a: a substance to make objects adhere to each other b: something serving to unite firmly <justice is the cement that holds a political community together — R. M. Hutchins> 3: cementum4: a plastic composition made especially of zinc or silica for filling dental cavities5: the fine-grained groundmass or glass of a porphyry

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