Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive and igneous rock.
Granites has a medium to coarse-grained texture to it. Some of the individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic.
Granite is nearly always massive, tough and hard, and it has gained widespread use as a construction stone. The average density of granite is between 2.65 and 2.75 g/cm3 and its compressive strength usually lies above 200 MPa.
The word granite comes from the Latin granum, a grain, in reference to the coarse-grained structure of such a crystalline rock.
Polished granite is popular choice for kitchen worktops due to its high durability and aesthetic qualities. In building and for granite worktops, the term "granite" is often applied to all igneous rocks with large crystals, and not specifically to those with a granitic composition.