Pangaea
or Pan·ge·a
[ pan-jee-uh ]
/ pænˈdʒi ə /
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noun Geology.
the hypothetical landmass that existed when all continents were joined, from about 300 to 200 million years ago.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…
Compare supercontinent.
Origin of Pangaea
1920–25; pan- + Greek gaîa earth; allegedly coined by German meteorologist Alfred L. Wegener (1880–1930)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use Pangaea in a sentence
Pangea is all about the cultural and social facets of particular peoples and places.
Saatchi Resurrects Ancient Pangaea with Show Featuring South American and African Artists|Chloë Ashby|April 4, 2014|DAILY BEASTLawrence McDonald is a managing director of Pangea Capital Management and the cofounder of Convertbond.com.
British Dictionary definitions for Pangaea
Pangaea
Pangea
/ (pænˈdʒiːə) /
noun
the ancient supercontinent, comprising all the present continents joined together, which began to break up about 200 million years agoSee also Laurasia, Gondwanaland
Word Origin for Pangaea
C20: from Greek, literally: all-earth
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 Pangaea
Pangaea
[ păn-jē′ə ]
A supercontinent made up of all the world's present landmasses joined together in the configuration they are thought to have had during the Permian and Triassic Periods. According to the theory of plate tectonics, Pangaea later broke up into Laurasia and Gondwanaland, which eventually broke up into the continents we know today.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for Pangaea
Pangaea
[ (pan-jee-uh) ]
A former “supercontinent” on the Earth. In the distant past a large landmass, Pangaea, included all the present continents, which broke up and drifted apart. (See plate tectonics.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.