Word of the Day

Friday, June 23, 2006

littoral

\LIH-tuh-rul\ , adjective;

Of, relating to, or on a coastal or shore region, especially a seashore.

noun:

A coastal region, especially the zone between the limits of high and low tides.

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Quotes:

Professor Henslow tells me, he believes that nearly all the plants which I brought from these islands, are common littoral species in the East Indian archipelago.

-- Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle

A country that is landlocked or has few neighbors will be more vulnerable than one that is littoral or extensive.

-- Franklin L. Lavin,, "Asphyxiation or Oxygen? The Sanctions Dilemma", Foreign Policy, September-October 1996

Like 49ers staking claims in California, the five littoral nations have asserted overlapping territorial claims in the Caspian itself.

-- Richard Stone, "Caspian Ecology Teeters On the Brink", Science, January 18, 2002

As the Portuguese moved south along the Upper Guinea Coast along the littoral of Sierra Leone, a region known as the Windward Coast, they entered another major area of rice cultivation.

-- Judith A. Carney, Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas

Origin:

Littoral derives from Latin littoralis, litoralis, from litor-, litus, "the seashore."