Hercynian

/ hɜːˈsɪnɪən /

adjective

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hercynian¹

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

Example Sentences

Hercynian, her-sin′i-an, adj. of or pertaining to the forest-covered mountain region of northern Germany—apart the Harz Mountains.

From Project Gutenberg

Already at the beginning of the Christian era the name Germans was applied by the Romans and Gauls to the many clans of people whose main habitation was the extensive territory east of the Rhine, and north of the forest-clad Hercynian Mountains.

From Project Gutenberg

Moreover, the marked Permian ice age follows long after the birth of the Hercynian Mountains and before the rise of others of later Permian origin.

From Project Gutenberg

The mountain chain which extends through Central Germany from the Main to the Elbe was called by the Romans the Hercynian Forest.

From Project Gutenberg

In eastern Europe the evidence is less complete, because the Hercynian folds are buried beneath more recent deposits and have in some cases been masked by the superposition of a later series of folds.

From Project Gutenberg