Diorite vs. Granite — What's the Difference?

Diorite ( DY-ə-ryte) is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silica (mafic) gabbro and high-silica (felsic) granite.

Granite () is a coarse-grained igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground.

Any of various dark, granite-textured, crystalline rocks rich in plagioclase feldspar and having little quartz.

A common, coarse-grained, light-colored, hard igneous rock consisting chiefly of quartz, orthoclase or microcline, and mica, used in monuments and for building.

(rock) A grey intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of plagioclase feldspar, biotite, hornblende and/or pyroxene.

Unyielding endurance; steadfastness

An igneous, crystalline in structure, consisting essentially of a triclinic feldspar and hornblende. It includes part of what was called greenstone.

(rock) A group of igneous and plutonic rocks composed primarily of feldspar and quartz. Usually contains one or more dark minerals, which may be mica, pyroxene, or amphibole. Granite is quarried for building stone, road gravel, decorative stone, and tombstones. Common colors are gray, white, pink, and yellow-brown.

A granular crystalline intrusive rock

Toughness; the quality of having a thick skin or being rough.

A crystalline, granular rock, consisting of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and usually of a whitish, grayish, or flesh-red color. It differs from gneiss in not having the mica in planes, and therefore in being destitute of a schistose structure.

Plutonic igneous rock having visibly crystalline texture; generally composed of feldspar and mica and quartz

Something having the quality of granite (unyielding firmness);