Tectonic

How to spell tectonic

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce tectonic

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does tectonic mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to the structure and large-scale movement of the Earth's crust.

Tectonic in a sentence

• The earthquake was caused by sudden movement along a tectonic plate boundary.

• Geologists mapped the tectonic activity beneath the mountain range.

Where does tectonic come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the Greek tekton, which literally meant a carpenter or builder, the craftsman who joined timbers and raised structures. From it came the adjective tektonikos, meaning 'relating to building or construction', which passed into Latin as tectonicus. English adopted it in the mid 1600s as a general term for anything to do with building and architecture. In the nineteenth century geologists gave it its now dominant scientific sense, describing the large-scale structure and deformation of the Earth's crust, as though the planet's plates were vast pieces of construction being fitted and shifted. The same Greek root survives in the word 'architect', literally the 'chief builder', which is a handy reminder that the spelling keeps the 'tect' that means building.

How the word is built

• tecton- (from Greek tekton: builder, carpenter)
• -ic (adjective suffix)