Go to 'thermo-' entry Go to 'dino-' entry Go to 'chondro-' entry Go to 'aero-' entry Go to '-logy' entry Go to 'thaumato-' entry Go to 'nano-' entry Go to '-sophy' entry Go to 'bucco-' entry Go to '-ism' entry Go to '-lysis' entry Go to 'galacto-' entry Go to '-anthropy' entry Go to 'pneumo-' entry Go to '-ploitation' entry Go to '-lithic' entry Go to '-sepalous' entry Go to 'onco-' entry Go to '-parous' entry Go to 'dermato-' entry Go to 'multi-' entry Go to 'dodeca-' entry Go to '-zoon' entry Go to 'vermi-' entry Go to 'crystallo-' entry Go to 'biblio-' entry Go to 'eco-' entry Go to 'juxta-' entry Go to 'facio-' entry
Affixes: the building blocks of English
Affixes: the building blocks of English
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calc(i)- Also calcareo-.

Lime or calcium.

[Latin calx, calc-, lime.]

Calcium is the chemical element present in chalk, limestone, gypsum, and calcite. The adjectives calciferous and calcareous refer to minerals that contain calcium or lime. A calcicole (Latin colere, inhabit) is a plant that needs a soil containing lime. Calciferol (from calciferous plus -ol) is the formal name for Vitamin D, essential for metabolizing calcium in the body; conversely, calcitonin is a hormone that reduces calcium levels in the blood. The Latin word for a small stone, calculus, is used in medicine for a stone in the kidney or gall bladder; small stones were used as markers on Roman counting tables and the English mathematical terms calculate and calculus derive from this.

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