Marls

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A sedimentary material that consists of clay, silt, and calcium carbonate, commonly utilized in agriculture and construction
2. A natural composite of clay and lime that is important for enhancing soil quality and found in various geological settings
3. A geological substance composed of clay, silt, and chalky elements that is often employed in soil improvement and building materials

Etymology: "Marls" is the plural of "marl," a noun for the soft, crumbly mixture of clay and lime that farmers have spread on fields for centuries to improve their soil. The word's ancestry runs through Latin: the Romans had "marga," and a diminutive form, "margila," passed into Late Latin and then into Old French as "marle." English took it from there in the Middle Ages as "marle," which later shifted to the modern spelling. The word is also a doublet of "marla," which came into English as an alternative form of the same material name, so the two words share one source but entered by different routes. Its Latin root, "marga," was a Celtic-derived term for this kind of earth, which is why the word travelled so easily across European farmland vocabulary.

Synonyms: clays, soils, sediments, earths, loams