Word of the Day

: January 3, 2011

concrete

adjective kahn-KREET

What It Means

1 : naming a real thing or class of things

2 : formed by coalition of particles into one solid mass

3 : relating to or involving specific people, things, or actions rather than general ideas or qualities

4 : relating to or made of concrete

concrete in Context

The use of concrete examples will often help your readers to better visualize what it is you are trying to get across.

"Castor and I go to the pool, which is big and concrete and shaped like an eight." -- From Gil Adamson's 2010 novel Help Me, Jacques Cousteau

Did You Know?

We can trace "concrete" back to the Latin verb "concrescere," meaning "to grow together." Appropriately, when if first entered English "concrete" could mean "connected by growth." Logicians and grammarians also applied "concrete" to words that expressed a quality viewed as being united with the thing it describes. That in turn led to the sense of "concrete" which we now contrast with "abstract" -- concrete words express actual things ("rock," "lizard, "harpsichord"), while abstract words express qualities apart from actual things ("bliss," "freedom," "turpitude"). It was not until the 19th century that the noun "concrete," and its related adjective, began to be used for the building material composed of cementing material and sand, gravel, or similar materials.