any method of dating material based on the decay of its constituent radioactive atoms, such as potassium-argon dating or rubidium-strontium dating
Also called: radioactive dating
radiometric dating in American English
noun
any method of determining the age of earth materials or objects of organic origin based on measurement of either short-lived radioactive elements or the amount of a long-lived radioactive element plus its decay product
Also called: radioactive dating
Word origin
[1965–70]This word is first recorded in the period 1965–70. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: T cell, isometric exercise, overdub, stun gun, wraparound
Examples of 'radiometric dating' in a sentence
radiometric dating
They are selectively neutral, random occurrences that yield a constant relationship to time, like the degradation of isotopes in radiometric dating of rocks or minerals.