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sedimentary

UK/ˌsɛd.əˈmɛn.tə.ɹi/US/ˌsɛd.əˈmɛn.tə.ɹi/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,271 of 15,258mostly written

Sedimentary means formed from layers of material settling and hardening. Sedimentary rock, a sedimentary layer, sedimentary formation.

It is one of the three great classes of rock beside igneous and metamorphic, and it is the only one that holds fossils, since the others were too hot. Limestone, sandstone and chalk are all sedimentary.

Michael C. Rygel · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of sedimentary

  1. 1adjectivesedimentaryFormed from layers of material settling and hardening.C1

    “The cliffs are made of sedimentary rock, laid down in layers at the bottom of an ancient sea.”

sedimentary is a quality.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *sed-

  2. Latin

    sedimentum

  3. Middle French

    sédiment

  4. English

    sediment

  5. English, today

    sedimentary

From sediment + -ary. sediment comes from Middle French sédiment, from Latin sedimentum < sedeō.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Rocks & Minerals

Practise this word

sedimentary in the wild

  • Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized silicate grains, cemented together by another mineral.

    Sandstone

  • The sedimentary rock cover of the continents of the Earth's crust is extensive, but sedimentary rock is estimated to be only 8% of the volume of the crust.

    Sedimentary rock

  • The Williston Basin, Molasse basin and Magallanes Basin are examples of sedimentary basins that are no longer depressions.

    Sedimentary basin

  • Almost all the world's natural gas and petroleum and all of its coal are found in sedimentary rock.

    Sedimentary basin

  • Rocks are usually grouped into three main groups: igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks.

    Rock (geology)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the sédiment family

sedimentsedimentary

sedimentary — used about once every 41,009 pages · #14,271 · point at the bar for the others