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What is the technical term for a material that is highly resistant or insulated to fire? Such as Diamond, or Ceramics? I looked at various words already, such as Endothermic, but I'm fairly certain that is not related to the act of resisting, as it appears to be directed more towards the act of absorbing heat from the environment, such as a snowman melting. So what is the correct technical or pretentious-sounding term for a material which cannot be easily burned. I am looking for something a little bit more extravagant than "Fire-Retardant".

Usage Example:

"The snowman had been made with a new substance that made it highly resistant to both the sun, and fire, and so it was now ______, and would not melt."

"Diamond is _____, and so it is highly resistant to fire and heat."

Krythic
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  • Found one, but it has negative connotations, I feel. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/asbestine – Krythic Dec 14 '20 at 19:11
  • @dan.mwasuser2321368 Not technical enough for my taste. – Krythic Dec 14 '20 at 19:20
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    Erm @dan.mwasuser2321368 Inflammable means the opposite. i.e. easily catches fire...maybe you want non-flammable? – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Dec 14 '20 at 19:27
  • I'm actually prepared to mess with root words and make my own word up. Already got a good one figured out. "Ignsorbine". Literally "Fire Absorb Kind" This is for a game I'm making. I can do whatever I want. – Krythic Dec 14 '20 at 19:30
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    Incombustible works for ceramics but not for diamond (ignites normally at 900° C). – Edwin Ashworth Dec 14 '20 at 19:33
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    @Cascabel - The history is pretty convoluted: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/454353/what-is-the-history-of-the-spelling-imflammable-with-m-instead-of-n – Hot Licks Dec 14 '20 at 20:36
  • If you are asking for a technical term, you are probably best-off asking a subject matter expert, as standards and terminology will vary by industry and regulator— flammability is different from combustibility, and there is a difference between flame-retardant and fire-resistant products, and so on and so forth. – choster Dec 14 '20 at 21:02

3 Answers3

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A common term is "fireproof". (ref.)

adjective
1 resistant to destruction by fire.
2 totally or almost totally unburnable.

LPH
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The technical term in science and engineering is refractory: having a high melting temperature or otherwise being resistant to thermal degradation. Ceramics are almost defined by their refractory nature.

Chemomechanics
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A friend of mine found an interesting one.

Salamandrine(adj) of, pertaining to, or resembling, a salamander; enduring fire.

Krythic
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    So if you want to send your reader to a dictionary, use this one. :) – Barmar Dec 15 '20 at 16:01
  • @Barmar Most, but probably not all readers. I’d actually expect many people who have an above-average knowledge of the insanity that were medieval concepts of zoology (such as salamanders being creatures of fire and flames) to be able to figure this one out in context. – Austin Hemmelgarn Dec 15 '20 at 16:15
  • I suspect that a lot of people would guess this is referring to some sort of Mandarin. – Hot Licks Dec 15 '20 at 18:44
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    @AustinHemmelgarn Ermm, how many people do you think have an above-average knowledge of medieval concepts of zoology? [Don't say 50%] – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 15 '20 at 23:06
  • @AzorAhai-him- There’s a reason that I specifically said ‘most, but probably not all’. I mean that most readers would need a dictionary, but many of the (admittedly small number of) people who have an above-average knowledge of medieval concepts of zoology would probably get it. – Austin Hemmelgarn Dec 16 '20 at 01:41
  • @aus At that point just say "most readers but probably not those that know the word" lmao – Azor Ahai -him- Dec 16 '20 at 02:39