tectonic

adjective

tec·​ton·​ic tek-ˈtä-nik How to pronounce tectonic (audio)
1
: of or relating to tectonics
2
: having a strong and widespread impact
a tectonic shift in voting patterns
tectonically 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
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And so, to Paris, where the tectonic plates of a historic reshuffling of creative directors is grinding into place. Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2025 The study supports the theory that diamonds can form when carbonate fluids are carried deep into the mantle by subducting tectonic plates and react with metal alloys. Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2025 The tectonic shifts that carved out this lush vista 30 million years ago mean much of this land sits atop pressurized steam, groundwater, and hot rocks — a geological bounty that Kenya has tapped to become the world’s sixth-largest geothermal energy producer. Alexis Akwagyiram, semafor.com, 22 Sep. 2025 With the most notable victim possibly being a shattered jar of sundried tomatoes on the floor of a North Berkeley cheese shop, the temblor gave what experts say was a low-stakes but important tectonic reminder for the region. Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 22 Sep. 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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Cite this Entry

“Tectonic.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tectonic. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

tectonic

adjective
tec·​ton·​ic tek-ˈtän-ik How to pronounce tectonic (audio)
: of or relating to tectonics
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