bitumen

noun

bi·​tu·​men bə-ˈtyü-mən 

bī-,

-ˈtü-,

 especially British also  ˈbit-yə-

1

: an asphalt of Asia Minor used in ancient times as a cement and mortar

2

: any of various mixtures of hydrocarbons (such as tar) often together with their nonmetallic derivatives that occur naturally or are obtained as residues after heat-refining natural substances (such as petroleum)

specifically : such a mixture soluble in carbon disulfide

bituminization

bə-ˌtyü-mə-nə-ˈzā-shən 

bī-

-ˌtü-

noun

bituminize

bə-ˈtyü-mə-ˌnīz 

bī-

-ˈtü-

transitive verb

Examples of bitumen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This article describes how the pilot, which focused on the company’s bitumen waterproofing systems, unfolded at Soprema. —Robert S. Kaplan timmy Melotte, Harvard Business Review, 20 May 2024

Showing illustrative, colorful scenes of Neanderthals fashioning tools with sticky tar, bitumen mortar in Mesopotamian structures, Chinese naphtha stoves, and eventually the US automotive industry, the work reveals the ways oil has permeated human production across cultures. —Kelly Presutti, ARTnews.com, 2 Aug. 2024

With that information in hand, the researchers obtained oil and bitumen samples from sediments dated to different points in the Earth's past. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 9 June 2023

In the Le Moustier region, bitumen, and ochre would have had to be collected from distant locations. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 21 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English bithumen mineral pitch, from Latin bitumin-, bitumen

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1