Illinoian

American  

[il-uh-noi-uhn] / ˌɪl əˈnɔɪ ən /

noun

1. Geology. the third stage of the glaciation of North America during the Pleistocene.

2. Illinoisan.

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adjective

1. Geology. of or relating to the Illinoian stage.

2. Illinoisan.

Etymology

Origin of Illinoian

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; Illinoi(s) + -an

Example Sentences

Most of these are named, nearly always awkwardly, after places: Illinoian, Desmoinesian, Croixian, Kimmeridgian, and so on in like vein.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Wondering if, for no good reason I started thinking about Sears and Roebuck or Shake ’n Bake, would it be because some Illinoian had thought it two days ago.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

All the kinds of shrews so far discussed, including the S. vagrans complex, might thus be thought of as having had a common ancestor in the Illinoian Age.

From Speciation of the Wandering Shrew by Findley, James S.

South of the driftless area the Mississippi valley was invaded at different times by ice sheets from the west,—the Kansan and the Iowan,—and again by the Illinoian ice sheet from the east.

From The Elements of Geology by Norton, William Harmon

The S. obscurus from Conard Fissure probably represents the ancestral S. vagrans stock which I think reached eastern United States in Illinoian time and gave rise to S. longirostris.

From Speciation of the Wandering Shrew by Findley, James S.