marmoreal

Carved like a gargoyle visage in the side of the wall, massive, marmoreal, except that a great rumbling low breath escaped from between its lips[....]

--On, by Adam Roberts, p. 225 of the 2002 Gollancz paperback edition

MW11 says "marmoreal" means (paraphrasing) "like a marble statue."

It's possible I've seen this word before; it looks vaguely familiar. But I certainly had no idea what it meant, even from context. If I'd had to guess, I'd have guessed it meant "marmot-like." :)

2 Responses to “marmoreal”

  1. Fred

    This one comes up fairly often. It’s often used for textures.

    reply
  2. John Schoffstall

    For some reason, I associate the word with dense, ancient forests. Not ‘arboreal’. What word am I thinking of?

    reply

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