Pangaea

or Pan·ge·a

[ pan-jee-uh ]

nounGeology.
  1. the hypothetical landmass that existed when all continents were joined, from about 300 to 200 million years ago.

Origin of Pangaea

1
1920–25; pan- + Greek gaîa earth; allegedly coined by German meteorologist Alfred L. Wegener (1880–1930)

Words Nearby Pangaea

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How to use Pangaea in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Pangaea

Pangaea

Pangea

/ (pænˈdʒiːə) /


noun
  1. the ancient supercontinent, comprising all the present continents joined together, which began to break up about 200 million years ago: See also Laurasia, Gondwanaland

Origin of Pangaea

1
C20: from Greek, literally: all-earth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for Pangaea

Pangaea

[ păn-jēə ]


  1. A supercontinent made up of all the world's present landmasses joined together in the configuration they are thought to have had during the Permian and Triassic Periods. According to the theory of plate tectonics, Pangaea later broke up into Laurasia and Gondwanaland, which eventually broke up into the continents we know today.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Cultural definitions for Pangaea

Pangaea

[ (pan-jee-uh) ]


A former “supercontinent” on the Earth. In the distant past a large landmass, Pangaea, included all the present continents, which broke up and drifted apart. (See plate tectonics.)

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.