littoral

[ lit-er-uhl ]
See synonyms for: littorallittorals on Thesaurus.com

adjective
  1. of or relating to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.

  2. (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.

  1. of or relating to the region of freshwater lake beds from the sublittoral zone up to and including damp areas on shore.: Compare intertidal.

noun
  1. a littoral region.

Origin of littoral

1
First recorded in 1650–60; from Latin littorālis, variant of lītorālis “of the shore,” equivalent to lītor- (stem of lītus ) “shore” + -ālis, adjective suffix; see -al1; cf. Lido, lido

Words that may be confused with littoral

Words Nearby littoral

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use littoral in a sentence

  • Nor would it be easy to imagine, from the point of view of defense, either a bay of littoral with greater natural advantages.

  • In general, the main strife may be said to have been waged between the provinces of the littoral and those of the Far West.

    South America | W. H. Koebel

British Dictionary definitions for littoral

littoral

/ (ˈlɪtərəl) /


adjective
  1. of or relating to the shore of a sea, lake, or ocean

  2. biology inhabiting the shore of a sea or lake or the shallow waters near the shore: littoral fauna

noun
  1. a coastal or shore region

Origin of littoral

1
C17: from Late Latin littorālis, from lītorālis, from lītus shore

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

Scientific definitions for littoral

littoral

[ lĭtər-əl ]


  1. 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.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.