tectonic

adjective

tec·ton·ic tek-ˈtä-nik

Synonyms of tectonic next

: of or relating to tectonics

: having a strong and widespread impact

a tectonic shift in voting patterns

tectonically

tek-ˈtä-ni-k(ə-)lē

adverb

Examples of tectonic in a Sentence

There has been a recent tectonic shift in voting patterns. a tectonic shift in societal trends occurred in the 1960s

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Like a tectonic plate of unspoken emergency etiquette, there is a quiet divide emerging between the parts of the city that are still in active crisis and the parts that are attempting to go about business as usual. —

Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Jan. 2025 The country is situated where the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. —

Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 15 Jan. 2025 The rocks making up Earth's tectonic plates are cooler and have a higher density than the surrounding mantle and can be visualized as slabs sinking into Earth's interior. —

David Bressan, Forbes, 8 Jan. 2025 Earthquakes are common in the Himalayan region, which spans a fault line between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. —

Mithil Aggarwal, NBC News, 7 Jan. 2025 See all Example Sentences for tectonic

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from German tektonisch "pertaining to broader structural features of the earth's crust," earlier "of building or construction," borrowed from Late Latin tectonicus "of a builder or architect," borrowed from Greek tektonikós "of a carpenter, skilled in carpentry or building," from tekton-, téktōn "woodworker, carpenter, craftsman" + -ikos -ic entry 1; téktōn going back to Indo-European *tetḱ-on- (whence also Sanskrit takṣan-, tákṣā "carpenter," Avestan tašan-, tašā "builder, creator"), n-stem derivative from a verbal base *tetḱ- "fashion, produce," whence Sanskrit tákṣati "(s/he) fashions, builds from wood," Avestan tāšt "(s/he) forms," Latvian tešu, tèst "to hew," Old Church Slavic tešǫ, tesati "to hew, fell," (with o-grade) Lithuanian tašýti "to hew"

Note: A root of the form *tetḱ- would be peculiar for Indo-European. Helmut Rix, et al., (Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2. Ausgabe, Wiesbaden, 2001) rescue the situation by hypothesizing that *tetḱ- represents a pre-Indo-European reduplicated aorist, *te-tḱ-, of a root *teḱ-, seen in unreduplicated form in Greek téknon "child, young of an animal" and étekon, tekeîn, aorist of tíktō, tíktein "to give birth to, beget, generate" (see dystocia). However—aside from the certain correspondence of Greek téktōn with Vedic Sanskrit takṣan-, Avestan tašan- —all other outcomes of this supposed root can be accounted for as *teḱ-s-, an extended form of *teḱ-. To explain this anomaly, Andrew Sihler (New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, Oxford, 1995, p. 225) hypothesizes that téktōn is a conflation of a regular derivative *texōn and an unattested agentive derivative *téktōr, going back to *teks-tor-, (with cluster simplification as in hektós "sixth" corresponding to héx "six"). Traditionally added to the compared forms given in the etymology above are Latin texere "to weave, form by plaiting or twining, construct" and other words (see at text entry 1). See also technical entry 1.

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of tectonic was in 1894

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Style

“Tectonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tectonic. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

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Kids Definition

tectonic

adjective

tec·ton·ic tek-ˈtän-ik

: of or relating to tectonics

Last Updated: 23 Jan 2025 - Updated example sentences

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tectonic

adjective

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Examples of tectonic in a Sentence

Word History

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