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Hercynian

adjective

denoting a period of mountain building in Europe in the late Palaeozoic

Word Origin for Hercynian

C16: from Latin Hercynia silva the Hercynian forest (i.e., the wooded mountains of central Germany, esp the Erzgebirge)

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

Examples from the Web for hercynian

Historical Examples of hercynian

Mountains and forests: the Hercynian forest, a general name for the forest mountains, particularly of eastern Germany.
A Manual of Ancient History
A. H. L. (Arnold Hermann Ludwig) Heeren
A poetic atmosphere from the Hercynian woods and the monuments of ancient days surrounded our lives.
The Story Of My Life From Childhood To Manhood
Georg Ebers
The breadth of this Hercynian forest which has been referred to above is, to a quick traveler, a journey of nine days.
Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 7
Various
Beginning at the Hercynian forest are the Catti, a robust and vigorous people, possessed also of much sense292 and ability.
The World's Greatest Books -- Vol XX -- Miscellaneous Literature and Index
Various
Hercynian, her-sin′i-an, adj. of or pertaining to the forest-covered mountain region of northern Germany—apart the Harz Mountains.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M)
Various

Word Origin and History for hercynian

Hercynian

adj.

1580s, designating the forest-covered mountains of ancient Germany, from Latin Hercynia (silva) "Hercynian (forest)," related to Greek Orkynios drymos, probably from Old Celtic *Perkunya, from PIE *perq(o)- "oak, oak forest, wooded mountain" (see fir).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper