hornito

[ hawr-nee-toh; Spanish awr-nee-taw ]

noun

, Geology.

, plural hor·ni·tos [hawr-, nee, -tohz, aw, r, -, nee, -taws].

1. a low oven-shaped mound of congealed lava, common in some volcanic districts, emitting hot smoke and vapors in the final stages of activity.

hornito

/ hôr-nē′tō /

1. A low mound of matter ejected from a volcano, sometimes emitting smoke or vapor.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hornito¹

1820–30; < Spanish, equivalent to horn ( o ) oven (< Latin furnus, fornus; furnace ) + -ito diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

Every minute or so, bursts of black beads splashed out of the hornito, tumbling down the sides.

From New York Times

Hornito, hor-nē′tō, n. a low oven-shaped fumarole, common in South American volcanic regions.

From Project Gutenberg

Part of what remained had been shaped into a hornito, or stone oven, under which a fire had been kindled, and a strange figure moved about, stirring the glowing charcoal with a long bar of iron.

From Project Gutenberg

It was Sergeant Cardono, who moved about whistling softly, now attending to the steaming olla, now watching the rising bread in the hornito.

From Project Gutenberg