cretaceous
1
9.6
- adjective
- /krɪˈteɪʃəs/
- Specialized
- The museum's exhibit features fossils from the cretaceous period, highlighting its diverse marine life.
Examples
-
Geologists often study the cretaceous layers to understand the history of Earth's climate.
-
It ain't 6,000 feet inland, down through 2,000 extra feet of cretaceous granite.
-
You can see you come along the Cretaceous, it's black, it drops down and goes back up, keeps going.
-
The cliffs along the coast are composed of cretaceous rock, rich in chalk deposits.
Synonyms
6
4.2
A dry, powdery feel that often leaves white dust
Compounds
- Specialized
6
7.7
The time about 145 to 66 million years ago when many dinosaurs died out and flowering plants became common
Surface Forms
Morphology
cretaceous = cret + aceous
The word uses a classical chalk-related root plus the suffix -aceous, but the root is not a standalone English word and the meaning is not recoverable for an average learner.
Etymology
Cretaceous comes from the Latin word creta, meaning 'chalk'. So cretaceous describes rocks or soils that are full of chalk, like the white, chalky cliffs you can imagine.