Silurian definition |Dictionary.com

Silurian

7 dictionary results for: Silurian

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Si·lu·ri·an

[si-loor-ee-uh

n, sahy-] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	of or pertaining to the Silures or their country.

2.	Geology. noting or pertaining to a period of the Paleozoic Era, occurring from 425 to 405 million years ago, notable for the advent of air-breathing animals and terrestrial plants.

–noun

3.	Geology. the Silurian Period or System of rocks.

[Origin: 1700–10; Silur(es) + -ian

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Si·lu·ri·an   (sĭ-lŏŏr'ē-ən, sī-) Pronunciation Key
adj.   Of or belonging to the geologic time, system of rocks, or sedimentary deposits of the third period of the Paleozoic Era, characterized by the development of jawed fishes, early invertebrate land animals, and land plants. See Table at geologic time.

n.   The Silurian Period or its system of deposits.

[From Latin Silures, an ancient people of southwest Wales, where the rocks were first identified.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Silurian

1708, "pertaining to the Silures," from L. Silures "ancient British tribe inhabiting southeast Wales." Geological sense is from 1835, coined by Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1871) because rocks of this period are especially frequent in Wales.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

silurian
noun
from 425 million to 405 million years ago; first air-breathing animals

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The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Silurian (sĭ-l

r'ē-ən) Pronunciation Key
The third period of the Paleozoic Era, from about 438 to 408 million years ago. During this time glaciers that formed during the late Ordovician melted, causing sea levels to rise. The first coral reefs, fish with jaws, and freshwater fish appeared, and jawless fish continued to spread rapidly. The first vascular plants also appeared, as did land invertebrates including relatives of spiders and centipedes. See Chart at geologic time.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Silurian

In*ver"te*brate\, a. (Zo["o]l.) Destitute of a backbone; having no vertebr[ae]; of or pertaining to the Invertebrata. -- n. One of the Invertebrata.

Age of invertebrates. See Age, and Silurian.

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Silurian

Si*lu"ri*an\, a. [From L. Silures, a people who anciently inhabited a part of England and Wales.] (Geol.) Of or pertaining to the country of the ancient Silures; -- a term applied to the earliest of the Paleozoic eras, and also to the strata of the era, because most plainly developed in that country.

Note: The Silurian formation, so named by Murchison, is divided into the Upper Silurian and Lower Silurian. The lower part of the Lower Silurian, with some underlying beds, is now separated under the name Cambrian, first given by Sedwick. Recently the term Ordovician has been proposed for the Lower Silurian, leawing the original word to apply only to the Upper Silurian.

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