portland cement

port·land cement

noun \ˈpȯrt-lən(d)-\

Definition of PORTLAND CEMENT

: a hydraulic cement made by finely pulverizing the clinker produced by calcining to incipient fusion a mixture of clay and limestone or similar materials

Origin of PORTLAND CEMENT

Isle of Portland, England; from its resemblance to a limestone found there

First Known Use: 1824

Rhymes with PORTLAND CEMENT

coincident, disorient, experiment, ferro-cement, glove compartment, inconsequent, informed consent, misrepresent, nonresident, oxygen tent, privatdozent, rubber cement, self-confident, self-evident, sentence fragment, vice president

portland cement

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Binding agent of present-day concrete. It is a finely ground powder made by burning and grinding a limestone mixed with clay or shale. Its inventor, Joseph Aspdin (1799–1855), patented the process in 1824, naming the material for its resemblance to the limestone of the Isle of Portland, England. The cement combines chemically with the water it is mixed with, then hardens and strengthens.