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

They're triggered when earthquakes cause a sudden movement of the ocean floor, typically from vertical shifts associated with subduction zones where one tectonic plate slips under the other. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024

The area where Thursday’s temblor struck is a complex meeting point of tectonic plates where earthquakes are unpredictable, said Christine Goulet, the director of the Earthquake Science Center. —Jesus Jiménez, New York Times, 6 Dec. 2024

The reason for all the seismic activity is because that spot is where three different tectonic plates — the North American plate, the Pacific plate and the Juan de Fuca plate — come together. —NBC News, 5 Dec. 2024

Tectonic Forces and a Giant Plume of Magma As these tectonic plates diverge, fissures in Earth's crust crack open, allowing magma to well up and spew lava onto the surface. —Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 30 Nov. 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