interglacial

American  

[in-ter-gley-shuhl] / ˌɪn tərˈgleɪ ʃəl /

adjective

Geology.

1. occurring or formed between times of glacial action.

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interglacial British  

/ ˌɪntəˈɡleɪsɪəl, -ʃəl /

adjective

1. occurring or formed between periods of glacial action

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noun

1. a period of comparatively warm climate between two glaciations, esp of the Pleistocene epoch

interglacial Scientific  

/ ĭn′tər-glā′shəl /

1. Occurring between glacial epochs.

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1. A comparatively short period of warmth during an overall period of glaciation. Interglacials are characterized both by the melting of ice and by a change in vegetation.

Etymology

Origin of interglacial

First recorded in 1865–70; inter- + glacial

Example Sentences

Struve notes that several recent studies suggest large-scale retreat occurred in this region during the last interglacial period around 130,000 years ago, when global temperatures were similar to those seen today.

From Science Daily • Feb. 4, 2026

Earth has cycled through glacial and interglacial periods lasting hundreds of thousands of years.

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2025

The objects date from the end of a warm interglacial period 300,000 years ago, about when early Neanderthals were supplanting Homo heidelbergensis, their immediate predecessors in Europe.

From New York Times • May 4, 2024

About 129,000 to 116,000 years ago, a warm spell called the last interglacial gave our planet a brief break in between several million years of ice ages.

From Science Magazine • Dec. 20, 2023

Orgoreyn and the Archipelago has been increasing during the last ten or twenty millennia, and presages the end of the Ice, or at least a recession of it and an interglacial period.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin