Hercynian

British  

/ hɜːˈsɪnɪən /

adjective

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

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Etymology

Origin of Hercynian

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

Example Sentences

Their flocks and herds were permitted to graze in the pastures of the barbarians: their huntsmen penetrated, without fear or danger, into the darkest recesses of the Hercynian wood.

From A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse by Bliss, Sylvester

The above comprise all the mountain ranges in the northern hemisphere of any prominence, or which have received distinctive names, except the Hercynian Mountains, on the north-east limb, east of the walled plain Otto Struve.

From The Moon A Full Description and Map of its Principal Physical Features by Elger, Thomas Gwyn

He was like a man who, with intent to dig up a pine, found himself tugging at the roots of an Igdrasil that twined themselves under a whole Hercynian forest.

From Thomas Carlyle by Nichol, John

Such a shade he knew had been already detected in the Palus Somnii, near Mare Crisium, and in the circular area of Lichtenberg, near the Hercynian Mountains, on the eastern edge of the Moon.

From All Around the Moon by Roth, Edward

The breadth of this Hercynian forest which has been referred to above is, to a quick traveler, a journey of nine days.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 7 by Warner, Charles Dudley