flint

English · Español · Français · Deutsch · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

flint^¹

/flɪnt/

Sounds like Flint, Flynt · Rhymes with -ɪnt

Where it comes from

From Middle English flynt, flint, from Old English flint, from Proto-West Germanic *flint, from Proto-Germanic *flintaz (compare Dutch vlint, flint (“flint, cobblestone”), German Flins, Flint (“flint, pebble”), Danish flint (“flint”)), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)plind- (“to split, cleave”) (compare Irish slinn (“slate, shingle”), Ancient Greek πλίνθος (plínthos)), from *(s)pley- (“to split”). More at split.

noun flints

uncountable A hard, fine-grained quartz that fractures conchoidally and generates sparks when struck against a material such as steel, because tiny chips of the steel are heated to incandescence and burn in air. He used flint to make a fire.
countable, uncountable A piece of flint, such as a gunflint, used to produce a spark by striking it with a firestriker. He used a flint to make a fire.
countable, uncountable A small cylinder of some other material of the same function in a cigarette lighter, etc.
countable, uncountable A variety of maize/corn with a hard outer hull.
countable, figuratively, uncountable Anything figuratively hard.
UK, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable A tailor's employee who is paid by the day.

verb flints · flinting · flinted

transitive To furnish or decorate an object with flint. No schoolboys lingered round Bob Robertson's (yclept Roberson's) blacksmith's shop, for this sleepy day no lusty throat bellowed attention to the flaming tongues fanned from its bloodily blazing teeth; no luminous stars flinted from the clanking anvil.

Flint^²

/flɪnt/

Sounds like Flynt, flint · Rhymes with -ɪnt

proper noun Flints

countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Mitchell County, Georgia, named after the Flint River.
countable, uncountable A township in Pike County, Illinois.
countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Jackson Township, Steuben County, Indiana.
countable, uncountable A former unincorporated community in Calloway County, Kentucky.
countable, uncountable A city, the county seat of Genesee County, Michigan. Each one claimed they were unjustly criticized, while claiming to have had Flint residents in mind.
countable, uncountable A township in Genesee County, Michigan, adjacent to the city.
countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Sharon Township, Franklin County, Ohio.
countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Smith County, Texas.
countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Randolph County, West Virginia.
countable, uncountable A town and community with a town council in Flintshire, Wales, United Kingdom, by the estuary of the River Dee (OS grid ref SJ2472).
countable, uncountable A surname.
countable, uncountable A male given name

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: glassy, vitreous, knapper, chattahoochee, apalachicola, knapped, knapping, firestone, hornstone, quartz, chalcedony, chert, silex, carnelian, quartzite, stone

Translations

Every language

noun hard fine-grained quartz which generates sparks when struck

Español	pedernal, sílex, moleña
한국어	부싯돌 busitdol, 수석 suseok
日本語	燧石
中文	燧石 suìshí
हिन्दी	चक़मक़ caqmaq, चकमक cakmak
Português	sílex, pederneira
Français	silex
Deutsch	Feuerstein, Flintstein, Flint, Silex
Italiano	selce
Română	silex, cremene
Русский	креме́нь kreménʹ
Tiếng Việt	đá lửa
العربية	صَوَّان ṣawwān, ظُرَر ẓurar, قَدَّاح qaddāḥ
עברית	צור tsór

noun piece of flint, such as gunflint used to produce a spark — see also firestriker

Español	pedernal
Português	pederneira
Français	pierre à fusil
Deutsch	Feuerstein, Zündstein
Русский	огни́во ognívo
العربية	صَوَّانَة ṣawwāna, ظِرّ ẓirr, ظُرَرَة ẓurara, قَدَّاحَة qaddāḥa

noun small cylinder

Español	pedernal, piedra
Français	pierre à briquet

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"flint." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/flint. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

flint. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/flint

Chicago

"flint." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/flint.

BibTeX

@misc{flint_2026,
  title = {flint},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/flint},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}