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Pangaea

American  
[pan-jee-uh] / pænˈdʒi ə /
Or Pangea

noun

Geology.
  1. the hypothetical landmass that existed when all continents were joined, from about 300 to 200 million years ago.


Pangaea British  
/ pænˈdʒiːə /

noun

  1. the ancient supercontinent, comprising all the present continents joined together, which began to break up about 200 million years ago See also Laurasia Gondwanaland

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Pangaea Scientific  
/ păn-jēə /
  1. A supercontinent made up of all the world's present landmasses joined together in the configuration they are thought to have had during the Permian and Triassic Periods. According to the theory of plate tectonics, Pangaea later broke up into Laurasia and Gondwanaland, which eventually broke up into the continents we know today.


Pangaea Cultural  
  1. A former “supercontinent” on the Earth. In the distant past a large landmass, Pangaea, included all the present continents, which broke up and drifted apart. (See plate tectonics.)


Etymology

Origin of Pangaea

1920–25; pan- + Greek gaîa earth; allegedly coined by German meteorologist Alfred L. Wegener (1880–1930)

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.

See Examples For:

Pangaea Policy’s Haines also said the talk about Chinese hacking “won’t surprise anyone in markets who follows China industrial espionage issues.”

From MarketWatch Jul. 17, 2026

Their widespread distribution likely occurred when the continents were still connected as the supercontinent Pangaea.

From Science Daily Mar. 10, 2026

Terry Haines, founder of Pangaea Policy, said the tariff rebate checks are “very likely” next year.

From MarketWatch Nov. 20, 2025

The river ran through the central region of what was the supercontinent of Pangaea, which was formed from all of Earth's landmasses.

From BBC Jul. 7, 2025

By knitting together the seams of Pangaea, Columbus set off an ecological explosion of a magnitude unseen since the Ice Ages.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

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