terrigenous

[ te-rij-uh-nuhs ]

adjective

produced by the earth.
Geology. noting or pertaining to sediments on the sea bottom derived directly from the neighboring land, or to the rocks formed primarily by the consolidation of such sediments.

Origin of terrigenous

1675–85; <Latin terrigenus, equivalent to terr(a) earth + -i--i- + -genus-genous

Words Nearby terrigenous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use terrigenous in a sentence

The specimen brought up was a terrigenous blue mud (glacial deposit) with some radiolaria.
South! | Sir Ernest Shackleton
And thus there are vast regions of the oceanic depressions over which no terrigenous or land-derived materials are accumulating.
Fragments of Earth Lore | James Geikie

British Dictionary definitions for terrigenous

terrigenous

/ (tɛˈrɪdʒɪnəs) /

adjective

of or produced by the earth
(of geological deposits) formed in the sea from material derived from the land by erosion

Origin of terrigenous

C17: from Latin terrigenus, from terra earth + gignere to beget

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 terrigenous

terrigenous

[ tĕ-rĭj′ə-nəs ]

Derived from the land, especially by erosive action. Used primarily of shallow marine sediments.

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