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tectonics

[tek-ton-iks]
noun (used with a singular verb)
  1. the science or art of assembling, shaping, or ornamenting materials in construction; the constructive arts in general.
  2. structural geology.

Origin of tectonics

First recorded in 1625–35; see origin at tectonic, -ics
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for tectonics

tectonics

noun (functioning as singular)
  1. the art and science of construction or building
  2. the study of the processes by which the earth's crust has attained its present structureSee also plate tectonics
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for tectonics
n.

1899 in the geological sense, from tectonic (also see -ics); earlier it meant "building or constructive arts in general" (1850).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
tectonics in Science

tectonics

[tĕk-tŏn′ĭks]
  1. The branch of geology that deals with the broad structural and deformational features of the outer part of the Earth, their origins, and the relationships between them. See more at plate tectonics.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.