chalk | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

31 entries found

1570s, "to mix with chalk;" 1590s as "to mark with chalk," from chalk (n.). Related: Chalked; chalking. Old English had cealcian "to whiten." Certain chalk marks on shipped objects meant "admitted" or "shipped free," hence some figurative senses. Chalk boards also were commonly used in keeping credit, score, etc., hence figurative use of chalk it up (1903).

chalk (n.)

Old English cealc "chalk, soft white limestone; lime, plaster; pebble," a West Germanic borrowing from Latin calx (2) "limestone, lime (crushed limestone), small stone," from Greek khalix "small pebble," which many trace to a PIE root for "split, break up."

Cognate words in most Germanic languages still have the "limestone" sense, but in English transferred chalk to the opaque, white, soft limestone found abundantly in the south of the island. The modern spelling is from early 14c. The Latin word for "chalk" was creta, which also is of unknown origin. With many figurative or extended senses due to the use of chalk marks to keep tracks of credit for drinks in taverns and taprooms, or to keep the score in games.

chalk-mark (n.)

"distinctive mark made with chalk," 1767, from chalk (n.) + mark (n.). As a verb from 1866.

chalky (adj.)

"consisting of or resembling chalk," c. 1400, from chalk (n.) + -y (2). Related: Chalkiness.

chalkboard (n.)

also chalk-board, "board meant to be written on with chalk," 1816, from chalk (n.) + board (n.1).

caliche (n.)

sodium nitrate deposits in Chile and Peru, 1858, from South American Spanish, from Spanish caliche "pebble accidentally enclosed in a brick; flake of lime," from Latin calx "limestone, pebble" (see chalk (n.)).

calculous (adj.)

c. 1600, "of or pertaining to a bodily concretion;" 1670s, "stony, stone-like;" from Latin calculosus and (in the medical sense) directly from calculus "a pebble," diminutive of calx (genitive calcis) "limestone" (see chalk (n.)).

calcite (n.)

crystalline calcium carbonate, 1849, from German Calcit, coined by Austrian mineralogist Wilhelm Karl von Hardinger (1795-1871) from Latin calx (genitive calcis) "lime" (see chalk (n.)) + mineral suffix -ite (2) (German -it).

calcify (v.)

"become hardened like bone," 1785 (implied in calcified), from French calcifier, from stem of Latin calcem "lime" (see chalk (n.)) + -fy. Related: Calcifying; calcification.

calcium (n.)

metallic element, coined 1808 by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy, who first succeeded in isolating it, from Latin calx (genitive calcis) "limestone" (see chalk (n.)) + metallic element ending -ium. Related: Calcic.

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