Képzdmény

Képződmény is a Hungarian noun that denotes something that has been formed or created through natural processes. The standard spelling is képződmény; the form “képzdmény” is a common misspelling. The term is used in several scientific fields to refer to a tangible product of formation processes that has distinguishable characteristics.

In geology and geosciences, képződmény most often designates a discrete body of rock or mineral material that can be mapped and described as a unit. This can include rock formations, sedimentary deposits, ore bodies, or other coherent accumulations with shared composition, texture, or fossil content. The concept is closely related to, and sometimes overlaps with, the term “formation” in stratigraphy, where a képződmény represents a recognizable unit within the geological record.

Beyond geology, the term can be applied more broadly to any natural or identifiable product of a forming process. In paleontology, a fossil assemblage may be described as a képződmény of organisms living in a particular environment. In engineering or mining contexts, deposits and accumulations that meet criteria for study or extraction may also be referred to as képződmények.

Etymologically, képződmény derives from képződni (to form, to be formed) with the suffix -mény, which marks a resultant object. The term thus names the outcome of a formation process rather than the process itself (which would be képződés).

See also: formation (geology), deposit, rock unit.