Carboniferous

[kahr-buh-nif-er-uh s]Geology

adjective

noting or pertaining to a period of the Paleozoic Era, including the Pennsylvanian and Mississippian periods as epochs, occurring from 345 million to 280 million years ago.

(lowercase) producing carbon or coal.

noun

the Carboniferous Period or System.

Origin of Carboniferous

1790–1800; < Latin carbōn- (stem of carbō) coal + -i- + -ferous

Related formspost-Car·bon·if·er·ous, adjectivepre-Car·bon·if·er·ous, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for carboniferous

Historical Examples of carboniferous

On the whole the Carboniferous seems to have been a time of subsidence in the West.
The Elements of Geology
William Harmon Norton
The first is in veins in the carboniferous or mountain limestone.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines
Andrew Ure
There are carboniferous basins of great extent and richness.
Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. II (of 2)
W. H. Russell
The Carboniferous genus, Pleuracanthus, has about 115 vertebræ.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan
The species are chiefly confined to rocks of the Carboniferous age.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2)
David Starr Jordan

British Dictionary definitions for carboniferous

carboniferous

adjective

yielding coal or carbon

Carboniferous

adjective

of, denoting, or formed in the fifth period of the Palaeozoic era, between the Devonian and Permian periods, lasting for nearly 64 million years during which coal measures were formed

noun

the Carboniferous the Carboniferous period or rock system

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

Word Origin and History for carboniferous

Carboniferous

adj.

1830 with reference the geological period, from a word formed in English in 1799 to mean "coal-bearing," from Latin carbo (genitive carbonis) "coal" (see carbon) + -ferous "producing, containing, bearing," from ferre "to bear" (see infer). The great coal beds of Europe were laid down during this period. As a stand-alone noun (short for Carboniferous Period) from 1940s.

carboniferous in Science

Carboniferous

[kär′bə-nĭf′ər-əs]

The period of geologic time from about 360 to 286 million years ago. The term is used throughout the world, although this period of time has been separated into the Mississippian (lower Carboniferous) and Pennsylvanian (upper Carboniferous) in the United States. During this time, widespread swamps formed in which plant remains accumulated and later hardened into coal. See Chart at geologic time.