Etymology

speleothem

spe·le·o·them
S1P3E1L1E1O1T1H4E1M3

Today it means: Any secondary mineral, deposited in a natural cave by the action of water. Includes formations such as stalactites, stalagmites, flowstones, and helictites. Full definition →

Ancient Greek σπήλαιον
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromσπήλαιον“cave”
  2. English todayspeleothem

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

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekσπήλαιον all →

speleo-

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.