Speleothem

//ˈspiːliəˌθɛm// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any secondary mineral, deposited in a natural cave by the action of water. Includes formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, and helictites.

    "But it is possible that the painting itself might be thousands of years older because the technique only assesses the age of a mineral deposit, speleothem, that formed on the cave walls."

Synonyms

All synonyms
cave formationcave formation

Example

More examples

"But it is possible that the painting itself might be thousands of years older because the technique only assesses the age of a mineral deposit, speleothem, that formed on the cave walls."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σπήλαιον (spḗlaion, “cave”) + θέμα (théma, “what is laid down”).

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