A very hard abrasive material made from silicon carbide, used for grinding, polishing, and sharpening tools and surfaces.
From Latin carbo (coal, carbon) + corundum (from Sanskrit kuruvinda, meaning ruby). The word was coined as a trademarked name for silicon carbide when it was first manufactured in 1891.
Carborundum was literally invented and trademarked as a word—a rare example of a proprietary name that became genericized. It's second only to diamond in hardness, and its creation was one of the first human-made super-hard materials, predating synthetic diamonds.
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