Mesozoic

[ mez-uh-zoh-ik, mes-, mee-zuh-, -suh- ]

/ ˌmɛz əˈzoʊ ɪk, ˌmɛs-, ˌmi zə-, -sə- /

Geology

adjective

noting or pertaining to an era occurring between 230 and 65 million years ago, characterized by the appearance of flowering plants and by the appearance and extinction of dinosaurs.

noun

the Mesozoic Era or group of systems.

QUIZZES

CHALLENGE YOURSELF WITH THIS MIDDLE SCHOOL PART OF SPEECH QUIZ!

How well do you know your adjectives from your adverbs? Your preposition from your pronouns? Your interjections from your conjunctions? Let’s put your knowledge of parts of speech to the text! Note: Many of the following questions will ask you to identify the parts of speech “in order.” That means the first word in all capital letters will correspond to the first option in an answer, and so on.

Question 1 of 10

In order, what parts of speech are the words in all capital letters? Alisa was VERY tired, SO she decided to go to bed.

adverb, adverb

adverb, conjunction

adjective, conjunction

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Origin of Mesozoic

First recorded in 1830–40; meso- + zo- + -ic

OTHER WORDS FROM Mesozoic

post-Mes·o·zo·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for mesozoic

So important are these beds in China, that had geology originated in that country, the Mesozoic might have been our age of coal.
The Story of the Earth and Man|J. W. Dawson
Dipnoans and marsipobranchs were there, too, in all probability, but teleosteans do not appear until the Mesozoic period.
The Origin of Vertebrates|Walter Holbrook Gaskell
Hence many of its forms are archaic; its mammalian fauna, for instance, is still in the Mesozoic stage.
Evolution|Joseph Le Conte
In the atmosphere the flying dragons of the Mesozoic give place to birds and bats.
The Elements of Geology|William Harmon Norton

The Mesozoic time certainly terminated with the Cretaceous, and what follows belongs to a distinct aeon.
The Story of the Earth and Man|J. W. Dawson

British Dictionary definitions for mesozoic

Mesozoic

/ (ˌmɛsəʊˈzəʊɪk) /

adjective

of, denoting, or relating to an era of geological time that began 250 000 000 years ago with the Triassic period and lasted about 185 000 000 years until the end of the Cretaceous period

noun

the Mesozoic the Mesozoic era

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 mesozoic

Mesozoic

[ mĕz′ə-zō′ĭk ]

The era of geologic time from about 245 to 65 million years ago. The Mesozoic Era was characterized by a drastic change in plants and animals. In the early part of the Mesozoic, ferns, cycads, and ginkgos were dominant; later, gymnosperms and angiosperms developed. Dinosaurs also first appeared in the Mesozoic and, with the exception of birds, became extinct at the end of the era. See Chart at geologic time.