chalk

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /tʃɔk/ UK /tʃɔːk/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like shock /tʃ/ vs /ʃ/

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

Simplified etymology

Chalk comes from Old English cealc, which meant both “chalk” and “lime.” Cealc was borrowed from Latin calx, “lime,” also the source of calcium.

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

General Vocabulary

External links

# chalk

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**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
- General Vocabulary

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