What does "geotectonics" mean?

Tectonics, structural geology; the study of the structure of the Earth, especially of the formation and movement of tectonic plates.

What is a synonym for "geotectonics"?

Common synonyms include: geotectonism.

Pronounced //ˌdʒiːə(ʊ)tɛkˈtɒnɪks//.

//ˌdʒiːə(ʊ)tɛkˈtɒnɪks// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Tectonics, structural geology; the study of the structure of the Earth, especially of the formation and movement of tectonic plates. uncountable

From geo- + tectonics (although this is apparently first attested later), possibly from German Geotektonik.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.