calcareous
/kælˈkɛəɹi.əs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.59 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Resembling, containing, or composed of calcium carbonate or limestone; chalky.
Example Sentences
- "The next morning I went to see the hot-springs and mud volcanoes, for which this place is celebrated. A picturesque path among plantations and ravines brought us to a beautiful circular basin about forty feet in diameter, bordered by a calcareous ledge, so uniform and truly curved, that it looked like a work of art."
- "The traveller from the coast, who, after plodding northward for a score of miles over calcareous downs and corn-lands, suddenly reaches the verge of one of these escarpments[.]"
- "Cellariiform, the orifices nearly confined to the convex frontal and lateral surfaces; the basal surface with a strong median calcareous keel, almost concealed by a flat membranous epitheca, which covers the whole zoarium […]"
- "Instead, the spoil will be used in part to create 127 hectares of new calcareous grassland (alkaline grassland), woodland, wood pasture, and wetland habitats."
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin calcārius (“of or pertaining to lime”), derived from calx (“lime”). Similar to calcium.
Inflected Forms
more calcareous (comparative)
most calcareous (superlative)