tectonic

adjective

tec·​ton·​ic tek-ˈtä-nik 

1

: of or relating to tectonics

2

: having a strong and widespread impact

a tectonic shift in voting patterns

tectonically

tek-ˈtä-ni-k(ə-)lē 

adverb

Synonyms

• big
• consequential
• earth-shattering
• earthshaking
• eventful
• historic
• important
• major
• material
• meaningful
• momentous
• monumental
• much
• significant
• substantial
• weighty

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

As the Indian tectonic plate crunches northward into Asia, rocks are first buried deeply, then thrust southward on huge faults. —Matthew J. Kohn, Discover Magazine, 15 Apr. 2024

Like tectonic plates in the earthquake that punctuates that California-set chapter, Bonello’s narrative slips and slides, making the very premise on which the movie stands — along with the two main characters — shaky ground indeed. —Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 11 Apr. 2024

Earth’s tectonic plates moved slightly underneath New Jersey. —Brian Klaas, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2024

An earthquake occurs because of slippage between the earth's tectonic plates, according to the USGS. —USA TODAY, 8 Apr. 2024

The gas reaches the surface, a quarter-mile above, through cracks created by tectonic activity. —Emily Matchar, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Jan. 2024

Experts say the tectonic shifts from the quake pushed the ground up 13 feet in some areas and moved it sideways by more than 3 feet. —Janis MacKey Frayer, NBC News, 7 Jan. 2024

Additionally, the National Earthquake Information Center reports around 55 earthquakes happen a day around the globe, caused by movement between the earth’s tectonic plates on active or inactive faults. —Mallory Moench, TIME, 7 Apr. 2024

Earthquakes are less common on this side of the United States because the East Coast does not lie on a boundary of tectonic plates. —Jennifer Peltz, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 Apr. 2024

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

Kids Definition

tectonic

adjective

tec·​ton·​ic tek-ˈtän-ik 

: of or relating to tectonics