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epicontinental

[ ep-i-kon-tn-en-tl ]
/ ˌɛp ɪˌkɒn tnˈɛn tl /
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adjective
found or located in or on a continent: epicontinental minerals; an epicontinental sea.
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Origin of epicontinental

First recorded in 1900–05; epi- + continental

Words nearby epicontinental

epicist, epiclesis, epic machinery, epicondyle, epicondylitis, epicontinental, epicotyl, epicranium, epicrisis, epicritic, epic simile
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use epicontinental in a sentence

  • They were epicontinental seas; that is, they rested upon (Greek, epi) the submerged portion of the continental plateau.

    The Elements of Geology|William Harmon Norton

  • We can hardly account for this except by a shallow-water connection between the two ancient epicontinental seas.

    The Elements of Geology|William Harmon Norton

  • The epicontinental sea was shoaled and narrowed, and muds were washed in from the adjacent lands.

    The Elements of Geology|William Harmon Norton

  • The known deposits all point to shallow waters of epicontinental seas; no abyssal formations have been recognized.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 3|Various

British Dictionary definitions for epicontinental

epicontinental
/ (ˌɛpɪˌkɒntɪˈnɛntəl) /
adjective
(esp of a sea) situated on a continental shelf or continent
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
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