cretaceousadj.n.
/kriːˈteɪʃəs/ A. adj.
1.
a. Of the nature of chalk; chalky.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [adjective] > cretaceous
chalkyc1400
cretaceous1681
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis iv. §1. 356 The Cretaceous Salt.
1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 54 Nor from the sable Ground expect Success Nor from cretaceous, stubborn and jejune.
1710 T. Fuller Pharmacopœia Extemporanea 119 A Cretaceous Electuary.
1841 T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom xxix. 620 The lining membrane..secretes cretaceous matter.
b. Chalk-like. humorous.
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1808 S. Smith P. Plymley's Lett. vi I love not the cretaceous and incredible countenance of his colleague.
2. Geology. Belonging to or found in the Chalk formation. So cretaceous group, cretaceous series, cretaceous system. cretaceous period: the period during which these strata were deposited.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > [adjective] > secondary or Mesozoic > Cretaceous
cretaceous1831
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [adjective] > secondary or Mesozoic > Cretaceous
cretaceous1831
Cretacean1846
1831 H. T. De la Beche Geol. Man. v. 299 The cretaceous rocks of south-eastern England.
1854 F. C. Bakewell Geol. 56 The chalk and its associated sands have been termed the ‘cretaceous system’.
1863 C. Lyell Geol. Evid. Antiq. Man 335 During the oolitic and cretaceous periods.
B. n. (usually with the).
Geology. The Cretaceous system or period.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > [noun] > secondary or Mesozoic > Cretaceous
cretaceous1851
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > stratigraphic units > [noun] > secondary or Mesozoic > Cretaceous
cretaceous1851
Cretacean1867
1851 C. Lyell Man. Elem. Geol. (ed. 3) xvii. 209 (heading) Upper Cretaceous. i. Maestricht beds and Faxoe lime~stone.
1906 T. C. Chamberlin & R. D. Salisbury Geol. III. 160 In the Black Hills, the Cretaceous has in some places a thickness of no more than 1000 feet.
1906 T. C. Chamberlin & R. D. Salisbury Geol. III. 162 The Appalachian mountains,..which had been reduced to a peneplain by the close of the Cretaceous.
1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 415/1 There is a very general unconformity and break between the Lower and Upper Cretaceous.
1910 Encycl. Brit. VII. 415/1 With the opening of the Cretaceous in Europe there commenced a period of marine transgression.
1960 L. D. Stamp Britain's Struct. & Scenery (ed. 5) xii. 139 These strata form..transition beds between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary.
Derivatives
creˈtaceously adv. in the manner of chalk.
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1864 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1882 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Cretaceously-pruinose, having a white shining incrustation.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online September 2018).
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adj.n.1681