noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Rock formation, especially the formation of igneous or metamorphic rocks. uncountable, usually
2. 2
   The study of the origin of rocks, especially igneous and metamorphic rocks. uncountable, usually

Synonyms

All synonyms

petrogenyrock formation

Etymology

From petro- + -genesis, originally as a calque of earlier German Petrogenese and Petrogenesis.

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