From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Bitumen \Bi*tu"men\, noun [L. bitumen: cf. F. bitume. Cf. {B['e]ton}.]
1. Mineral pitch; a black, tarry substance, burning with a bright flame; Jew's pitch. It occurs as an abundant natural product in many places, as on the shores of the Dead and Caspian Seas. It is used in cements, in the construction of pavements, etc. See {Asphalt}.
2. By extension, any one of the natural hydrocarbons, including the hard, solid, brittle varieties called asphalt, the semisolid maltha and mineral tars, the oily petroleums, and even the light, volatile naphthas.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: any of various naturally occurring impure mixtures of hydrocarbons
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Bitumen Gen. 11:3, R.V., margin, rendered in the A.V. "slime"), a mineral pitch. With this the ark was pitched (6:14. See also Ex. 2:3.) (See {SLIME}.)
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