pluvial

American  

[ploo-vee-uhl] / ˈplu vi əl /

adjective

1. of or relating to rain, especially much rain; rainy.

2. Geology. occurring through the action of rain.

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noun

1. Geology. a rainy period formerly regarded as coeval with a glacial age, but now recognized as episodic and, in the tropics, as characteristic of interglacial ages.

pluvial British  

/ ˈpluːvɪəl /

adjective

1. of, characterized by, or due to the action of rain; rainy

   pluvial insurance

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noun

1. geology of or relating to rainfall or precipitation

2. a climate characterized by persistent heavy rainfall, esp one occurring in unglaciated regions during the Pleistocene epoch

pluvial Scientific  

/ plo̅o̅′vē-əl /

1. Relating to or caused by rain.

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Other Word Forms

• interpluvial
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pluvial

1650–60; < Latin pluviālis, equivalent to pluvi ( a ) rain + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

The word pluvial is used in science to describe anything related to rain. A geologist might refer to a lake formed by ancient downpours as a pluvial lake. Pluvial comes from the Latin word pluvia, meaning "rain." As a noun, it refers to a long stretch of Earth's history when certain regions received much more rainfall than they do today, creating massive lakes in what might now be deserts. Geologist study such ancient pluvial periods to understand climate shifts. Today, a meteorologist might refer to a season with abundant rainfall as a pluvial season. A rainforest has a pluvial climate. The word pluvial has the same root as pluvimeter, the technical name for a rain gauge.

Example Sentences

There has also been pluvial - or surface water - flooding, which is a direct result of intense or prolonged rainfall that overwhelms drainage systems.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026

Averaged out at the global scale, the team found that 15.46% of all meteorological droughts were succeeded by a pluvial the following season.

From Science Daily • Jan. 24, 2024

The flash flooding—experts call it pluvial flooding—that hit Zhengzhou, in contrast, showed how quickly torrential downpours can turn deadly in a densely packed modern city.

From Science Magazine • Jul. 29, 2021

Two of the largest pluvial lakes were Lake Bonneville and Lake Lahontan.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Adj. fluent; diffluent†, profluent†, affluent; tidal; flowing &c. v.; meandering, meandry†, meandrous†; fluvial, fluviatile; streamy†, showery, rainy, pluvial, stillicidous†; stillatitious†.

From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Roget, Peter Mark

Related Words

• damp
• moist
• stormy
• wet