Devonian
Americanadjective
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Geology. noting or pertaining to a period of the Paleozoic Era, 405 to 345 million years ago, characterized by the dominance of fishes and the advent of amphibians and ammonites.
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of or relating to Devonshire, England.
noun
adjective
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of, denoting, or formed in the fourth period of the Palaeozoic era, between the Silurian and Carboniferous periods, lasting 60-70 million years during which amphibians first appeared
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of or relating to Devon
noun
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The fourth period of the Paleozoic Era, from about 408 to 360 million years ago. During this time there were three major landmasses: most of modern day North America and Europe were located along the equator; a portion of Siberia was located to the north; and a continent consisting of South America, Australia, Africa, India, and Antarctica was located in the Southern Hemisphere. In the early Devonian small plants dominated the landscape, but by the end of the Devonian ferns and seed plants had appeared, as had the first forests. The first tetrapods (terrestrial vertebrates) and terrestrial arthropods appeared, as did many new types of fish.
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See Chart at geologic time
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of Devonian
1605–15; < Medieval Latin Devoni ( a ) Devon + -an
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
By filling the long-standing 80 million-year hexapod gap, the work pushes the early diversification of insects back from the Late Carboniferous into the Early Devonian.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
They also reexamined mysterious stem insect fossils from the Early Devonian chert deposits of Britain and the Late Carboniferous Mazon Creek biota in the United States.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026
William revealed he had his scones the Devonian way - layering clotted cream first followed by jam.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
The tea plants in lunar soil flourished, performing on par with those in Devonian soil, while the Mars saplings failed to grow.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025
We have five fingers because we have descended from a Devonian fish that had five phalanges or bones in its fins.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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