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Origin and history of igneous

igneous(adj.)

1660s, "pertaining to or resembling fire," from Latin igneus "of fire, fiery; on fire; burning hot," figuratively "ardent, vehement," from ignis "fire, a fire," extended to "brightness, splendor, glow;" figuratively "rage, fury, passion," from PIE root *egni- "fire" (source also of Sanskrit agnih "fire, sacrificial fire," Old Church Slavonic ogni, Lithuanian ugnis "fire"). Geological meaning "produced by volcanic forces" is from 1791, originally in distinction from aqueous. Earlier in the sense "fiery" were ignean (1630s), ignic (1610s).

also from 1660s

Entries linking to igneous

ignis fatuus(n.)

"will o' the wisp, jack-o-lantern," 1560s, Medieval Latin, literally "foolish fire;" see igneous + fatuous. "It seems to have been formerly a common phenomenon; but is now exceedingly rare" [OED].

ignite(v.)

1660s (trans.), "kindle or set on fire, cause to burn," from Latin ignitus, past participle of ignire "set on fire, make red hot," from ignis "fire" (see igneous). Attested earlier as an adjective (1550s). Intransitive sense of "catch fire, begin to burn" is from 1818. Related: Ignited; igniting.

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Trends of igneous

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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ignition
1610s, "act of heating to the point of combustion," from French ignition or directly from Medieval Latin ignitionem (nominative ignitio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin ignire "set on fire," from ignis "fire" (see igneous). Meaning "means of sparking a fire" (o
aqueous
"of the nature of or abounding in water," 1640s, from Latin aqua "water" (from PIE root *akwa- "water") on analogy of French aqueux "watery" (16c., which, however, is from Late Latin aquosus "abounding in water"). Or perhaps it is by analogy of Latin terreus "earthy," from terra
fiery
late 13c., "flaming, full of fire," from Middle English fier "fire" (see fire (n.)) + -y (2). The spelling is a relic of one of the attempts to render Old English "y" in fyr in a changing system of vowel sounds. Other Middle English spellings include firi, furi, fuiri, vuiri, fer
plutonic
Plutonic rocks are such igneous rocks as have been formed under conditions of depth and pressure, and have cooled slowly,...Plutonic is opposed to volcanic, the former designating rocks formed at some depth beneath the surface, the latter rocks of igneous...
porphyry
Now used generally for a type of igneous rock without regard to color. Porphyrios was an ancient proper name....
meteor
formerly classified as aerial meteors (wind), aqueous meteors (rain, snow, hail), luminous meteors (aurora, rainbows), and igneous...
pyroclastic
retain the word "ash," giving it an enlarged technical meaning, so as to include all the fragments accumulated during an igneous...
wanton
early 14c., wan-towen, "resistant to control; willful," from Middle English privative word-forming element wan- "wanting, lacking, deficient," from Old English wan-, which was used interchangeably with un- (1), and is cognate with Dutch wan- (as in wanbestuur "misgovernment," wan
surmise
c. 1400, surmisen, in law, "to charge, allege, accuse" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French surmis, past participle of surmettre "to accuse," from sur- "upon" (see sur- (1)) + mettre "put," from Latin mittere "to send" (see mission). The meaning "infer conjecturally, infer or
conception
early 14c., "act of conceiving in the womb," from Old French concepcion (Modern French conception) "conception, grasp, comprehension," from Latin conceptionem (nominative conceptio) "a comprehending, conception," noun of action from past-participle stem of concipere "to take in a

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