creta

== Catalan == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin creta. Doublet of greda. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): (Northern) [ˈkɾe̞.tə] IPA(key): (Balearic) [ˈkɾə.tə] IPA(key): (Central) [ˈkɾɛ.tə] IPA(key): (Valencia, Northwestern) [ˈkɾe.ta] === Noun === creta f (plural cretes) chalk (a soft, white, powdery limestone) === See also === guix (“piece of chalk”) === Further reading === “creta”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007 “creta”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026 “creta” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “creta”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan) == Galician == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin creta. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈkɾeta/ [ˈkɾe.t̪ɐ] Rhymes: -eta Hyphenation: cre‧ta === Noun === creta f (plural cretas) chalk === Further reading === “creta”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026 == Italian == === Etymology === Inherited from Latin creta. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈkre.ta/, /ˈkrɛ.ta/ Rhymes: -eta, -ɛta Hyphenation: cré‧ta, crè‧ta === Noun === creta f (plural crete) chalk clay === References === === Anagrams === -crate, carte, certa, cetra, tacer, trace == Ladin == === Alternative forms === crëta === Noun === creta f (plural cretes) credit (financial) confidence == Latin == === Etymology 1 === Unknown, perhaps: From Crēta, thus “Cretan earth”. From (terra) crēta (“sifted (earth)”), substantivized from the feminine gender of crētus. De Vaan considers this phonetically sound but semantically weak (clay is not a sifted type of dirt). From an archaic Proto-Indo-European noun *tkʷreh₁-it- (compare Old Irish crē, Welsh pridd, Tocharian A tukri and Tocharian B kwriye, all meaning “clay”) plus the thematic feminine ending *-eh₂, but the root would be otherwise unknown. An early borrowing from Celtic, or from the same substrate source as the Celtic words; more at Proto-Celtic *kʷrīyess. This theory is preferred by De Vaan. ==== Noun ==== crēta f (genitive crētae); first declension chalk clay, clayey soil ===== Declension ===== First-declension noun. ===== Derived terms ===== crētātus crētōsus crētula ===== Descendants ===== ==== References ==== === Etymology 2 === See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form. ==== Participle ==== crēta inflection of crētus: nominative/vocative feminine singular nominative/accusative/vocative neuter plural ==== Participle ==== crētā ablative feminine singular of crētus ==== References ==== “creta”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press “creta”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers “creta”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette. “creta”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers “creta”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly == Spanish == === Etymology === Borrowed from Latin crēta. Compare greda. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈkɾeta/ [ˈkɾe.t̪a] Rhymes: -eta Syllabification: cre‧ta === Noun === creta f (uncountable) (geology) chalk (rock) Synonym: caliza de Creta (vulgar, Dominican Republic) the labia minora; the vaginal lips Synonym: labias menores === Further reading === “creta”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025