An archaic variant spelling of chalk, a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock composed of the mineral calcite, used for writing and drawing.
From Old English cealc, derived from Latin calx meaning 'limestone' or 'heel.' The root ultimately traces to Proto-Indo-European and is related to words describing hard mineral substances used for construction and marking.
Chalk pits have been mined for over 70 million years of accumulated plankton skeletons—when you write with chalk, you're literally using the fossilized shells of countless tiny sea creatures from the Cretaceous period!
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