Meanings
noungreywacke (countable and uncountable, plural greywackes)
plural greywackes · alternative graywacke
- countableuncountablegeographyA hard dark sandstone with poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments in a compact, clay-fine matrix.
Endless bleak, rounded hills composed of shales and ribs of tough ‘greywackes’ make up the Southern Uplands – all of such rocks were originally deposited under marine conditions.
2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 177
Origin
Anglicised form of grauwacke.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech droba
- drobahard dark sandstone
Finnish grauvakka
- grauvakkahard dark sandstone
Māori whatuaho
- whatuahohard dark sandstone
Polish szarogłaz
- szarogłazhard dark sandstone
Russian граува́кка
- граува́кка (grauvákka)hard dark sandstone
Cite this entry
APA
greywacke. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greywacke
MLA
“greywacke.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greywacke. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “greywacke,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/greywacke.
Source: greywacke on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.