Sedimentary
/ˌsɛd.ɪˈmɛn.tə.ri/noun
Relating to or formed by the deposition of sediment.
Did you know?Sedimentary comes from the same Latin root as *sedition* and *sedentary*: *sedere*, meaning “to sit,” so the word’s core image is not chaos, but matter that has “sat down” over time.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*sed-
“to sit”
Latin
Latin
sedere
“to sit”
Late Latin
Latin
sedimentum
“a settling, a deposit; something that sinks and settles”
14th Century
English
sediment
“matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid”
17th Century
English
sedimentary
“relating to sediment or formed by its deposition”