Miocene
/ˈmaɪəsiːn/ adjective, proper noun
Forms Meiocene
- adjective (geology) Of a geologic epoch within the Neogene period from about 23 to 5.3 million years ago; marked by the drift of continents to their present position.
- proper noun (geology) The Miocene epoch.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μείων (meíōn, “less”) + καινός (kainós, “new”). Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1831 for Charles Lyell, who introduced it in 1833 in his book Principles of Geology. By surface analysis, meio- + -cene.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Miocene”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details