protocontinent

[ proh-toh-kon-tn-uhnt ]

noun

, Geology.

1. an actual or hypothetical landmass that might later be enlarged into a major continent or broken up into smaller ones.

protocontinent

/ prō′tō-kŏn′tə-nənt /

1. A landmass that existed at some point in the past. Protocontinents that are thought to have comprised some or all of the present-day continents in a single landmass are also known as supercontinents .

Word History and Origins

Origin of protocontinent¹

First recorded in 1955–60; proto- + continent

Example Sentences

Geologists have long known that 250 million years ago the continents were bunched together in a massive protocontinent, dubbed Pangea.

From Time Magazine Archive