cretaceous

[kri-tey-shuhs]

adjective

1. resembling or containing chalk.

2. (initial capital letter),  noting or pertaining to a period of the Mesozoic Era, from 140 million to 65 million years ago, characterized by the greatest development and subsequent extinction of dinosaurs and the advent of flowering plants and modern insects.

noun

1. (initial capital letter),  the Cretaceous Period or System.

Cretaceous

¹

/ krɪˈteɪʃəs /

adjective

1. of, denoting, or formed in the last period of the Mesozoic era, between the Jurassic and Tertiary periods, lasting 80 million years during which chalk deposits were formed and flowering plants first appeared

noun

1. the Cretaceous period or rock system

cretaceous

²

/ krɪˈteɪʃəs /

adjective

1. consisting of or resembling chalk

Cretaceous

1. The third and last period of the Mesozoic Era, from about 144 to 65 million years ago. During this time the supercontinent Pangaea continued to split up, with modern-day South America and Africa splitting apart, the Atlantic Ocean widening, and India disconnecting itself entirely from the other landmasses to which it was attached. Dinosaurs continued to be the dominant terrestrial animals, but many insect groups, modern mammals and birds, and the angiosperms (flowering plants) also first appeared. The Cretaceous Period ended with a mass extinction event in which about 75 percent of all species, including marine, freshwater, and terrestrial organisms, became extinct.

2. See Chart at geologic time

Other Word Forms

• cretaceously adverb
• noncretaceous adjective
• postcretaceous adjective
• supercretaceous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cretaceous¹

1665–70; < Latin crētāceus, equivalent to crēt ( a ) chalk, clay ( crayon ) + -āceus -aceous; the geological period was defined from the chalk beds of SE England and associated formations

Word History and Origins

Origin of Cretaceous¹

C17: from Latin crētāceus, from crēta, literally: Cretan earth, that is, chalk

Example Sentences

These animals survived late into the time dinosaurs were on Earth, in a period known as the Cretaceous.

From BBC

These animals, which lived during the Late Cretaceous period, were a relative of the Triceratops.

From BBC

The region is an especially important source of fossils from the later Cretaceous period, which is the last of the main three periods of the dinosaur age, representing the final phase of dinosaur evolution.

From BBC

The Cretaceous period was the time of the cockroaches, and they thus survived just one of the five mass extinctions that occurred before the one we're living in right now.

From Salon

On Friday, an expert revealed the teeth had belonged to reptiles from the Late Cretaceous period - 72 to 66 million years ago - in Morocco, authorities said.

From BBC