uniformitarian

American  

[yoo-nuh-fawr-mi-tair-ee-uhn] / ˌyu nəˌfɔr mɪˈtɛər i ən /

adjective

1. supporting, conforming to, or derived from a theory or doctrine about uniformity, especially on the subject of geology.

2. Geology. of or relating to the thesis that processes that operated in the remote geological past are not different from those observed now.

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noun

1. a person who accepts or supports a uniformitarian theory.

Other Word Forms

• uniformitarianism noun

Etymology

Origin of uniformitarian

First recorded in 1830–40; uniformit(y) + -arian

Example Sentences

Hancock's plaint is that mainstream science is stuck in a uniformitarian model of slow, gradual change and so cannot accept a catastrophic explanation.

From Scientific American

The address began with a protest against the old uniformitarian view of geological changes as expressed by Playfair in his Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory.

From Project Gutenberg

It is logical to use these proportions as prior probabilities by making a uniformitarian assumption that they were similar in the Mesozoic.

From Science Magazine

In 1832, the year after young Darwin set out upon his cruise, Lyell published the first edition of his 'Principles of Geology,' establishing once for all the uniformitarian concept of that branch of science.

From Project Gutenberg

So that, under the influence of a great catastrophist, Lyell became the greatest of the uniformitarians, and more than any one man was the destroyer of the older point of view.

From Project Gutenberg