Lyell

American  

[lahy-uhl] / ˈlaɪ əl /

noun

1. Sir Charles, 1797–1875, English geologist.

2. Mount, a mountain in E central California, in Yosemite National Park, in the Sierra Nevada. 13,114 feet (3,997 meters).

3. Also Lyall. a mountain on the border of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada, in the Rocky Mountains. 11,520 feet (3,511 meters).

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Lyell British  

/ ˈlaɪəl /

noun

1. Sir Charles. 1797–1875, Scottish geologist. In Principles of Geology (1830–33) he advanced the theory of uniformitarianism, refuting the doctrine of catastrophism

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Lyell Scientific  

/ lī′əl /

1. Scottish geologist who is considered one of the founders of modern geology. He is most famous for his principle of uniformitarianism, as first set forth in his three-volume Principles of Geology (1830–1833).

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Example Sentences

The jacket photo of “To Absent Friends,” which features Welty and Lyell in a theatrical pose, as if they were matinee idols, hints at the kind of personal theater in which they indulged as 20-somethings.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

“You could smell the heavy loam in the deep cool woods—the Yazoo and Big Black rivers were running along,” she tells Lyell after an autumn drive through rural Mississippi in 1935.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025

In 1883, when Israel Russell photographed the Lyell glacier in Yosemite for the U.S.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 1, 2025

Lyell but, in recent years, has spread to communities on the central and eastern slopes of the Sierra, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 29, 2025

Lyell and Hooker took matters into their own hands.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman