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Agate vs Marble - What's the difference?

agate | marble |

In countable terms the difference between agate and marble

is that agate is a tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.;—so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing while marble is a small spherical ball of rock, glass, ceramic or metal used in children's games.

As nouns the difference between agate and marble

is that agate is a semi-pellucid, uncrystallized variety of quartz, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged in stripes or bands, or blended in clouds while marble is a rock of crystalline limestone.

As an adverb agate

is on the way; agoing.

As a verb marble is

to cause (something to have) the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example by mixing viscous ingredients incompletely, or by applying paint or other colorants unevenly.

As an adjective marble is

made of, or resembling, marble.

agate

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) agathe, from (etyl) .

Noun

  • (countable, uncountable, mineral) A semi-pellucid, uncrystallized variety of quartz, presenting various tints in the same specimen, with colors delicately arranged in stripes or bands, or blended in clouds.
  • (uncountable, US, printing) 5.5-point size of type, larger than pearl and smaller than nonpareil; in England called ruby.
  • (countable, obsolete) A diminutive person; so called in allusion to the small figures cut in agate for rings and seals.
  • (countable) A tool used by gold-wire drawers, bookbinders, etc.;—so called from the agate fixed in it for burnishing.
  • (slang, usually in plural) A testicle.
  • Synonyms
    * (printing) ruby (Britain)
    Hyponyms
    * (mineralogy) fortification agate, Scotch pebble; moss agate, clouded agate
    Derived terms
    * moss agate * agate line * agateware

    Etymology 2

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (obsolete) On the way; agoing.
  • to be agate'''; to set the bells '''agate
    (Cotgrave)
    ----

    marble

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (uncountable) A rock of crystalline limestone.
  • * 1751 , (Thomas Morell) (librettist), :
  • Open thy marble jaws, O tomb / And hide me, earth, in thy dark womb.
  • (countable) A small spherical ball of rock, glass, ceramic or metal used in children's games.
  • Quotations

    * 1871 , Marion Harland, Common sense in the household: a manual of practical housewifery , page 127: *: Veal Marble . Boil a beef-tongue the day before it is to be used, and a like number of pounds of lean veal; [...]

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * * *

    Verb

    (marbl)
  • To cause (something to have) the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example by mixing viscous ingredients incompletely, or by applying paint or other colorants unevenly.
  • * 1774 , William Hutchinson, An excursion to the lakes in Westmoreland and Cumberland, August, 1773 , page 29:
  • The small clouds which chequered the sky, as they passed along, spread their flitting shadows on the distant mountains, and seemed to marble them; a beauty which I do not recollect has struck any painter.
  • * 1899 , Thirteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of Labor , volume 1, page 106:
  • In the operation of marbling the edges of the books, [...]
  • To get the streaked or swirled appearance of certain types of marble, for example due to the incomplete mixing of viscous ingredients, or the uneven application of paint or other colorants.
  • * 2007 , Alicia Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques , page 125:
  • Scent the entire batch and then color half with the blue colorant. Pour both parts back into your soap pot. Do not stir. Pour in a circular motion into a block mold. The pouring action will cause the soap to marble .
  • To cause meat, usually beef, pork, or lamb, to be interlaced with fat so that its appearance resembles that of marble.
  • * 1848 , Samuel D. Martin, in a letter to the Albany Cultivator'', quoted in the ''Fourteenth Annual Report of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture (for the year 1859; published 1860), page 157:
  • Their flesh is soft (tender), and they throw a portion of their fat among the lean so as to marble it. The beef is of a better quality and they take on fat much easier.
  • * 1904 , Annual Report of the Wisconsin State Board of Agriculture for the year 1903 , page 309:
  • The Merino sheep is likely to put his weight largely into tallow around the stomach, intestines and on his kidneys, instead of mixing fairly with the meat, instead of marbling the meat.
  • * 2004 , Mary Ellen Snodgrass, Encyclopedia of kitchen history , page 684:
  • Either by forcing the lardoon out with a plunger, by pushing it with a knife point, or by trailing it behind the needle, the cook artificially marbles the meat. For French cooks intent on larding, traditionally, the choice fat was the lard gras (pork fat).
  • To become interlaced with fat.
  • * 1999 , Kathleen Jo Ryan, Deep in the heart of Texas: Texas ranchers in their own words , page 99:
  • We've gone mostly to black bulls — Angus bulls because today the packers like black cattle. They seem to marble better.
  • *
  • *
  • Quotations

    * (English Citations of "marble") * 1972 , Sondra Gotlieb, The Gourmet’s Canada , page 129: *: The exercising of the cattle causes the fat to marble right through the animal — and much of the flavour is found in the fat. * 1993 , Susan Napier, Winter of Dreams , page 52: *: Was he the reason for the bitterness that seemed to marble her character?

    Synonyms

    * (transitive) marbleize, marbelize

    Derived terms

    * marbling

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Made of, or resembling, marble.
  • a marble''' mantel; '''marble paper
  • (figurative) Cold; hard; unfeeling.
  • a marble heart

    See also

    * ("marble" on Wikipedia)

    Anagrams

    *