Silurian

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   relating to the geological period between the Ordovician and Devonian, about 444 to 419 million years ago

   The cliff contains Silurian limestone rich in marine fossils.

2. 2
   noun

   the Silurian geological period or the corresponding system of rocks

   Jawed fishes diversified during the Silurian.

Coined in geology by Roderick Murchison in 1835 from Latin Silures, the name of an ancient British tribe whose territory included parts of the Welsh Borderland where he studied the rocks. The capitalized name later narrowed to the period between the Ordovician and Devonian.

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