Phrase guide

plate tectonics

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

The large-scale movement of tectonic plates that contributes to continental drift.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the branch of geology studying the folding and faulting of the earth's crust

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tectonics, plate tectonic theory

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: morphology, geomorphology

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: սալերի տեկտոնիկա (saleri tektonika) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Belarusian: тэктоніка пліт (tektónika plit) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Catalan: tectònica de plaques — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Chinese Mandarin: 板塊構造 /板块构造 (bǎnkuài gòuzào) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Czech: desková tektonika — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Dutch: platentektoniek — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Esperanto: platotektoniko — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Estonian: laamtektoonika — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Finnish: laattatektoniikka — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • French: tectonique des plaques — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Galician: tectónica de placas — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Georgian: ფილების ტექტონიკა (pilebis ṭekṭoniḳa) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • German: Plattentektonik — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Hungarian: lemeztektonika — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Irish: teicteonaic phlátaí — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Italian: tettonica a placche — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Italian: tettonica delle placche — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Japanese: プレートテクトニクス (purēto tekutonikusu) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Korean: 판 구조론 (pan gujoron) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Korean: 플레이트 텍토닉스 (peulleiteu tektonikseu) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Polish: tektonika płyt — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Portuguese: tectónica de placas — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Russian: текто́ника плит (tektónika plit) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Slovak: platňová tektonika — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Spanish: tectónica de placas — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Swedish: plattektonik — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Turkish: levha tektoniği — large-scale movement of tectonic plates
  • Ukrainian: тектоніка плит (tektonika plyt) — large-scale movement of tectonic plates