cretaceous

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun from 135 million to 63 million years ago; end of the age of reptiles; appearance of modern insects and flowering plants
adjective abounding in chalk
adjective of or relating to or denoting the third period of the Mesozoic era

From Latin cretaceus (“chalky”), from Latin creta.

Deposits probably of late Cretaceous or early Eocene period, judging from associated specimens. — At the mountains of madness, H. P. (Howard Phillips) Lovecraft
The first of these tiltings occurred in that far age which geologists call the Cretaceous. — The Book of the National Parks, Robert Sterling Yard
Entombed in the rocks of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, many lizard-like animals of gigantic size called saurians were found. — Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania, Jewett C. (Jewett Castello) Gilson

Cretaceous period

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