I. sə̇ˈment, sēˈ- sometimes ˈsēˌm- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English sement, siment, from Old French ciment, from Latin caementum rough unhewn stone, marble chips used in making mortar, from caedere to cut, hew — more at concise
1.
a. : a powder made from alumina, silica, lime, iron oxide, and magnesia burned together in a kiln and finely pulverized which when mixed with water to form a plastic mass hardens by chemical combination and by gelation and crystallization and is used as an ingredient of mortar and concrete ; especially : portland cement — see alumina cement , natural cement
b. : a substance (as concrete or mortar) of which cement is a major ingredient
2. : a binding element or agency: as
a. : any fabricated substance to make objects adhere to each other (as asphalt, glue, gypsum, lime, paste, or plaster)
b. : any of various secretions chiefly produced by special glands of invertebrates that harden rapidly when exposed to air or water and are used to fasten objects together (as an animal to its substrate, sand grains into the wall of a test, or nits to hairs)
c. : a notion or feeling serving to unite firmly : any agency making for lasting union
the States, on their part, lacking the cement of national feeling — Percival Spear
3. : cementum
4. : a plastic composition usually made of zinc, copper, or silica for filling dental cavities
5. : the fine-grained groundmass or glass of a porphyry : residual uncrystallized material
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English simenten, from siment, n.
transitive verb
1. : to join, unite, or cause to adhere by or as if by means of a cement
layers cemented together with glue
2.
a. : to bind together, unite firmly, unify : exert a marked cohesive influence on
cement scattered groups from all the northern states into a national party — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
b. : to stop or end disruptive tendencies and ensure the continuation of (as an association or friendship) : establish firmly
in cementing a more stable Pan-American union — R.W.Murray
3. : to overlay with concrete
cement a cellar floor
4. : to subject to cementation
cemented steel
intransitive verb
: to become cemented : unite firmly or solidify as if into cement : cohere , stick
the snow … compacting and cementing until the streams are spanned — John Muir †1914
III. adjective
Etymology: cement (I)
1. : of or relating to cement
2. : obtained by cementation
cement steel
cement copper