azoic

¹ American  

[uh-zoh-ik, ey-] / əˈzoʊ ɪk, eɪ- /

adjective

Geology.

1. (formerly) noting or pertaining to the Precambrian Era, especially that part formerly believed to precede the first appearance of life; Archean.

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azoic ² American  

[a-zoh-ik] / æˈzoʊ ɪk /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the azo group.

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azoic British  

/ eɪ-, əˈzəʊɪk /

adjective

1. without life; characteristic of the ages that have left no evidence of life in the form of organic remains

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Etymology

Origin of azoic¹

1840–50; < Greek ázō ( os ) lifeless ( azo- ) + -ic

Origin of azoic²

azo- + -ic

Example Sentences

Scientists long ago clung to the "azoic hypothesis" about the deep -- the presumption that nothing could possibly be alive so far from the photosynthetic world.

From Washington Post • May 16, 2010

In the azoic period of our earth there was no life on it.

From The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, Volume I, No. 11, November, 1880 by Walker, Aaron

The obelisks are all formed of granite, the foundation-stone of the globe, belonging to the oldest azoic formation, which laid down the first basis for the appearing of life.

From Roman Mosaics Or, Studies in Rome and Its Neighbourhood by Macmillan, Hugh

So here are the three great elemental characters, all together—the primal sea and sky and land—to act the azoic prologue.

From Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador An Address Presented by Lt.-Colonel William Wood, F.R.S.C. before the Second Annual Meeting of the Commission of Conservation at Quebec, January, 1911 by Wood, William Charles Henry

How then, from the absence of fossils in the Longmynd beds and their equivalents, can we conclude that the Earth was "azoic" when they were formed?

From Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative, Vol. I by Spencer, Herbert