Resembling or having the characteristics of basalt, especially in appearance or structure.
From 'basalt' combined with Greek '-oid' (meaning 'resembling' or 'having the form of'). The '-oid' suffix is used extensively in scientific terminology to indicate similarity without being identical.
The '-oid' suffix means 'almost but not quite'—so an 'android' is almost human, and 'basaltoid' rock is almost (but not exactly) basalt; it's science's way of saying 'close enough!'
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