Precambrian
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See also: Pre-Cambrian
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (US) (file)
Adjective[edit]
Precambrian (not comparable)
- (informal, geology) Relating to the time and geology dated before the Phanerozoic
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 209:
- When you look at a Precambrian trilobite in the lobby of a New York bank, it is difficult to speculate about its primeval environment.
Translations[edit]
before the Phanerozoic
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Proper noun[edit]
Precambrian
- (geology) The Precambrian supereon; spanning from the formation of the Earth around 4.6 billion years ago to the emergence of hard-shelled creatures 541 million years ago.
Usage notes[edit]
- The International Commission on Stratigraphy, which attempts to standardize the vocabulary of the field, is revising the boundaries between time periods based on physical-science methods rather than the kinds of fossils present.
- The boundary between the Precambrian and the Phanerozoic has been changed from time to time and will be subject to change, as will the eons listed as Hyponyms below.
Synonyms[edit]
- (geological supereon): Cryptozoic (archaic)
Hyponyms[edit]
- (geological supereon): Hadean, Archaean, Proterozoic - eons
Coordinate terms[edit]
- (geological supereon): Phanerozoic
Translations[edit]
eon before the Phanerozoic
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