refugium

American  

[ri-fyoo-jee-uhm] / rɪˈfyu dʒi əm /

noun

refugia plural

1. an area where special environmental circumstances have enabled a species or a community of species to survive after extinction in surrounding areas.

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refugium British  

/ rɪˈfjuːdʒɪəm /

noun

1. a geographical region that has remained unaltered by a climatic change affecting surrounding regions and that therefore forms a haven for relict fauna and flora

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• refugia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of refugium

From Latin, dating back to 1900–05; see origin at refuge

Example Sentences

“We expected Italy to be a climate refugium, but there’s a sharp and complete turnover—it’s a big surprise,” Posth says.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 1, 2023

“It’s interesting to think about whether sub-Saharan African foragers were mapping onto a kind of refugium model.”

From Science Magazine • Feb. 23, 2022

“The paleoecological data is consistent with the idea of a refugium, and the wood might be a key variable,” he said in an interview.

From New York Times • Mar. 12, 2014

The region has been an Arctic refugium from warming due to the persistence of sea ice on Hudson Bay, the largest northern inland sea, that provides natural cooling.

From Scientific American • Nov. 7, 2013

The body was borne by the chief tenants yet living, and surrounded by chanting monks, whose solemn "Domine refugium nostrum" fell with awful yet consoling effect upon the ears of the multitude.

From The Rival Heirs; being the Third and Last Chronicle of Aescendune by Crake, A. D. (Augustine David)