protocontinent

American

[proh-toh-kon-tn-uhnt] / ˌproʊ toʊˈkɒn tn ənt /

noun

Geology.

an actual or hypothetical landmass that might later be enlarged into a major continent or broken up into smaller ones.

protocontinent Scientific

/ prō′tō-kŏn′tə-nənt /

A landmass that existed at some point in the past. Protocontinents that are thought to have comprised some or all of the present-day continents in a single landmass are also known as supercontinents.

Etymology

Origin of protocontinent

First recorded in 1955–60; proto- + continent

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Geologists have long known that 250 million years ago the continents were bunched together in a massive protocontinent, dubbed Pangea.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023