calcareous

Definition

Resembling or containing calcium carbonate or limestone; chalky.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin calcārius (“of or pertaining to lime”), derived from calx (“lime”). Similar to calcium.

Example Sentences

• "The traveller from the coast, who, after plodding northward for a score of miles over calcareous downs and corn-lands, suddenly reaches the verge of one of these escarpments[.]"
• "Cellariiform, the orifices nearly confined to the convex frontal and lateral surfaces; the basal surface with a strong median calcareous keel, almost concealed by a flat membranous epitheca, which covers the whole zoarium […]"
• "Instead, the spoil will be used in part to create 127 hectares of new calcareous grassland (alkaline grassland), woodland, wood pasture, and wetland habitats."