calcareous

American  

[kal-kair-ee-uhs] / kælˈkɛər i əs /

adjective

1. of, containing, or like calcium carbonate; chalky.

   calcareous earth.

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calcareous British  

/ kælˈkɛərɪəs /

adjective

1. of, containing, or resembling calcium carbonate; chalky

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calcareous Scientific  

/ kăl-kâr′ē-əs /

1. Composed of or containing calcium or calcium carbonate. Calcareous rocks contain as much as 50 percent calcium carbonate.

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Other Word Forms

• calcareously adverb
• calcareousness noun
• noncalcareous adjective
• subcalcareous adjective
• uncalcareous adjective

Etymology

Origin of calcareous

1670–80; variant of calcarious < Latin calcārius of lime; see calx, -ary ( def. )

Example Sentences

The Mediterranean coral reef, formed by the accumulation of calcareous organisms, is home to more than 1,600 marine species that have been affected by the rise of water temperatures over the last years.

From Science Daily • Feb. 21, 2024

The researchers analysed the isotopic composition of oxygen in a stalagmite formed from calcareous water in a cave in southern Germany.

From Science Daily • Jan. 17, 2024

Though I had to swallow some disappointment to see it, Abbé’s fumaroles, built up over millennia by the accretion of calcareous mineral deposits, still presented an astonishing panorama.

From New York Times • Apr. 8, 2019

These are the familiar coral reefs, built by tiny colonial animals that farm symbiotic algae inside their calcareous skeletons and form mounds, branches, fingers, plates, and encrustations.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 2, 2017

I believe I smelled the sea rocks and the kelp and the excitement of churning sea water, the sharpness of iodine and the under odor of washed and ground calcareous shells.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck