azoic

¹ American  

[uh-zoh-ik, ey-] / əˈzoʊ ɪk, eɪ- /

adjective

Geology.

1. (formerly) noting or pertaining to the Precambrian Era, especially that part formerly believed to precede the first appearance of life; Archean.

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azoic ² American  

[a-zoh-ik] / æˈzoʊ ɪk /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the azo group.

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azoic British  

/ eɪ-, əˈzəʊɪk /

adjective

1. without life; characteristic of the ages that have left no evidence of life in the form of organic remains

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Etymology

Origin of azoic¹

1840–50; < Greek ázō ( os ) lifeless ( see azo-) + -ic

Origin of azoic²

azo- + -ic

Example Sentences

Scientists long ago clung to the "azoic hypothesis" about the deep -- the presumption that nothing could possibly be alive so far from the photosynthetic world.

From Washington Post • May 16, 2010

In the azoic period of our earth there was no life on it.

From The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, Volume I, No. 11, November, 1880 by Walker, Aaron

The total absence of any trace of fossils has inclined many geologists to attribute the origin of the most ancient strata to an azoic period, or one antecedent to the existence of organic beings.

From The Student's Elements of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir

So here are the three great elemental characters, all together—the primal sea and sky and land—to act the azoic prologue.

From Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador An Address Presented by Lt.-Colonel William Wood, F.R.S.C. before the Second Annual Meeting of the Commission of Conservation at Quebec, January, 1911 by Wood, William Charles Henry

It is a mistake to call this lake azoic.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 78, April, 1864 by Various