noun
1. A chemical sediment or crust, such as silica deposited by a mineral spring.
2. A mass formed by sintering.
verb
To form a coherent mass by heating without melting.
Selective Laser Sintering is a technique that uses a laser to sinter powdered material (nylon, alumide, steel, etc.).
I learned the word while at Chazen with friends: the medium for a sculpture from Xu Bing was listed as "laser-sintered polyamide".
Here is an article on the impressive, much larger (and non-sintered) installation related to the small sculptures I saw.
Etymology: German sinter, slag or dross.
