chalk

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /tʃɔk/ UK /tʃɔːk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like shock /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
a soft white limestone used for writing or marking

The teacher scrawled the equation on the board in chalk.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a soft white limestone used... limestone crayon

Word family

Derived forms chalkychalkiness

Related forms calcium calcareous

Etymology

From Old English cealc ('chalk, lime'), an early borrowing from Latin calx ('limestone, lime'), itself from Greek khalix ('pebble').

cealc Old English calx Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# chalk

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** tʃɔk
**IPA (UK):** tʃɔːk

## Meanings
1. a soft white limestone used for writing or marking

## Examples
- The teacher scrawled the equation on the board in chalk.

## Synonyms
- limestone
- crayon

## Derived Forms
- chalky
- chalkiness

## Related Forms
- calcium
- calcareous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cealc
- Root: calx

## Etymology
From Old English cealc ('chalk, lime'), an early borrowing from Latin calx ('limestone, lime'), itself from Greek khalix ('pebble').

## AI Etymology
Chalk comes from Old English cealc ('chalk, lime'), an early borrowing from Latin calx ('limestone, lime'), itself from Greek khalix ('pebble'). The historical trail runs through cealc in Old English and calx in Latin. Used as a noun and verb, chalk now means "a soft white limestone used for writing or marking", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as chalky and chalkiness and related forms such as calcium and calcareous. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

markdown

chalk

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback