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diluvial

or di·lu·vi·an

[dih-loo-vee-uh l]
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adjective
  1. pertaining to or caused by a flood or deluge.
  2. Geology Now Rare. pertaining to or consisting of diluvium.
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Origin of diluvial

1650–60; < Late Latin dīluviālis, equivalent to dīluvi(um) flood (see deluge) + -ālis -al1
Related formspre·di·lu·vi·al, adjectiveun·di·lu·vi·al, adjectiveun·di·lu·vi·an, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for diluvian

Historical Examples

  • May not the eight stools be representative of the eight diluvian survivors.

    Tradition

    John Francis Arundell

  • This egg is identical with the ark, and from it the diluvian patriarch was born.

  • Shall we accept the antediluvian, or the diluvian stratification?

    Omphalos

    Philip Henry Gosse

  • In Phrygia the diluvian tradition was as natural as in Greece.

  • The diluvian priestesses and regenerated souls were called "bees."

British Dictionary definitions for diluvian

diluvial

diluvian

adjective
  1. of or connected with a deluge, esp with the great Flood described in Genesis
  2. of or relating to diluvium
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Word Origin

C17: from Late Latin dīluviālis; see diluvium
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 diluvian

diluvial

adj.

"pertaining to a flood" (or The Flood), 1650s, from Late Latin diluvialis, from Latin diluvium "flood, inundation" (see deluge (n.)). Related: Diluvian.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
diluvian in Science

diluvial

[dĭ-lōō′vē-əl]
  1. Relating to or produced by a flood.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.