littoral
- of or relating to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.
- (on ocean shores) of or relating to the biogeographic region between the sublittoral zone and the high-water line and sometimes including the supralittoral zone above the high-water line.
- of or relating to the region of freshwater lake beds from the sublittoral zone up to and including damp areas on shore.Compare intertidal.
- a littoral region.
Origin of littoral
Related Words for littoral
aquatic, naval, maritime, coastal, seagoing, saltwater, deep-sea, marshy, seaside, beach, coast, seashore, border, bank, sand, seaboard, waterfront, riverbank, shore, shorelineExamples from the Web for littoral
Contemporary Examples of littoral
ASW assets and crews have been diverted to reconnaissance missions in overland and littoral wars.
Historical Examples of littoral
Mexican national life has not developed much upon the littoral.
MexicoCharles Reginald Enock
These remarks apply chiefly to littoral and sublittoral deposits.
On the Origin of SpeciesCharles Darwin
It had been repacked in littoral sand only found in an ancient sea-board in Germany.
The Ocean World:Louis Figuier
But the littoral of Western Africa is gifted with a flora as luxuriant as it is varied.
The Desert WorldArthur Mangin
They are, for the most part, shallow-water or littoral forms.
The Sea-beach at Ebb-tideAugusta Foote Arnold
littoral
- of or relating to the shore of a sea, lake, or ocean
- biology inhabiting the shore of a sea or lake or the shallow waters near the shorelittoral fauna
- a coastal or shore region
Word Origin for littoral
Word Origin and History for littoral
"pertaining to the seashore," 1650s, from Latin littoralis "of or belonging to the seashore," from litus (genitive litoris) "seashore" (cf. Lido), of unknown origin, possibly from PIE root *lei- "to flow." The noun is first recorded 1828, from Italian littorale, originally an adjective, from Latin littoralis.
littoral
- Relating to the coastal zone between the limits of high and low tides. The littoral zone is subject to a wide range of environmental conditions, including high-energy wave action and intermittent periods of flooding and drying along with the associated fluctuations in exposure to solar radiation and extremes of temperature. Compare sublittoral.