Library / English Dictionary

ARCHEAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The time from 3,800 million years to 2,500 million years ago; earth's crust formed; unicellular organisms are earliest forms of life

Synonyms:

Archaeozoic; Archaeozoic aeon; Archean; Archean aeon; Archean eon; Archeozoic; Archeozoic eon

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Instance hypernyms:

aeon; eon (the longest division of geological time)

Holonyms ("Archean" is a part of...):

Precambrian; Precambrian aeon; Precambrian eon; Precambrian period (the eon following the Hadean time and preceding the Phanerozoic eon; from about 3,800 million years ago until 544 million years ago)

Derivation:

archean (of or relating to the earliest known rocks formed during the Precambrian Eon)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the earliest known rocks formed during the Precambrian Eon

Synonyms:

archaean; archean

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

early (at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time)

Domain category:

geology (a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks)

Derivation:

Archean (the time from 3,800 million years to 2,500 million years ago; earth's crust formed; unicellular organisms are earliest forms of life)

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