Word.ws English Dictionary

asbestus

asbestus is the archaic spelling of asbestos.

Meaning of asbestos

Noun

asbestos (countable and uncountable, plural asbestoses or (rare) asbesti)

  1. Any of several fibrous mineral forms of magnesium silicate, used for fireproofing, electrical insulation, building materials, brake linings, chemical filters, suits, fireman's gloves, etc.
    • All types of asbestos are potentially carcinogenic when inhaled.
  2. Any of asbestos-like forms of several minerals, asbestiforms
  3. (attributive, colloquial) The supposed material composing part of the body that is impervious to heat, or by extension other unpleasant sensations; especially hot or spicy food.
    • She sipped the coffee; she always did have asbestos lips.2013 December 17, Tom Holt, When It's A Jar: YouSpace Book 2, Hachette UK, →ISBN

See all 8 meanings of asbestos

Forms of asbestus

plural (rare)asbesti

Origin of asbestus

From Middle English asbestus, from Late Latin asbestus.

Questions about asbestus

What is asbestus the archaic spelling of?
Asbestus is the archaic spelling of asbestos.

Words near asbestus in the dictionary

  1. asbestosizing
  2. asbestosless
  3. asbestoslike
  4. asbestotic
  5. asbestous
  6. asbestus
  7. Asbian
  8. Asbill
  9. Asbills
  10. ASBK
  11. ASBM

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: asbestus (page history and authors); asbestos (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “asbestus.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/asbestus. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.