Plinian

British  

/ ˈplɪnɪən /

adjective

1. geology (of a volcanic eruption) characterized by repeated explosions

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Etymology

Origin of Plinian

C20: named after _Pliny the Younger, who described such eruptions

Example Sentences

A 550-year-old Plinian eruption at El Chichón Volcano, Chiapas, Mexico: explosive volcanism linked to reheating of the magma reservoir.

From Nature • Dec. 12, 2017

The mountain is at Alert Level 2: A full-scale Plinian eruption may be unlikely, but smaller events would be very hard to predict.

From Slate • Feb. 29, 2012

While in Edinburgh, Charles became deeply interested in marine zoölogy, and read a paper before the Plinian Society, an association organized for the study of natural history.

From Famous Men of Science by Bolton, Sarah K.

I never could come into the custom of envelopes,—'tis a modern foppery; the Plinian correspondence gives no hint of such.

From The Best Letters of Charles Lamb by Lamb, Charles

I have not seen it remarked that these pygmies are mentioned by Andrew Battel Plinian at the end of the sixteenth century.

From Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir