Standard Lemma guide

speleothem

noun · 1 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈspiːliəˌθɛm/
  • UK: /ˈspiːlioʊˌθɛm/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Any secondary mineral, deposited in a natural cave by the action of water. Includes formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, and helictites.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Ancient Greek σπήλαιον (spḗlaion, “cave”) + θέμα (théma, “what is laid down”).

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 洞穴沉積物 /洞穴沉积物 (dòngxué chénjīwù) — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • Czech: speleotém — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • Finnish: tippukivi — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • French: spéléothème — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • German: Speläothem — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • Italian: speleotema — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • Japanese: 二次生成物 (nijiseiseibutsu) — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • Korean: 스펠레오뎀 (seupelle'odem) — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • Portuguese: espeleotema — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water
  • Spanish: espeleotema — secondary mineral, deposited in a cave by the action of water