Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Of or belonging to the geologic time, system of rocks, or sedimentary deposits of the seventh and last period of the Paleozoic Era, characterized by the formation of the supercontinent Pangaea, the rise of conifers, and the diversification of reptiles and ending with the largest known mass extinction in the history of life. See Table at geologic time.
- n. The Permian Period.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Relating to the city or government of Permin eastern Russia.
- 2. Relating to the Permians.
- 3. An epithet applied by Murchison and his coadjutors in a geological reconnaissance of a part of Russia, in 1841, to a group of strata overlying the Carboniferous, and forming the uppermost division of the Paleozoic series. The rocks of which the Permian system is composed are largely red sandstone, and their equivalent in England had then been known as the New Red Sandstone, to distinguish it from the Old Red Sandstone. Which lies beneath the Carboniferous. Eventually the New Red of England was found to be divisible (paleontologically) into two groups, of which the older was classed with the Paleozoic, and the newer placed in the Mesozoic. In Germany there is a well-marked division of the Permian into two lithologically distinct groups; hence it is sometimes designated as the Dyas, a name coined in imitation of Trias. The divisions of the Permian in Germany are a lower series of sandstones, red and mottled in color (hence the name Pœcilitic has been applied to them), called the Rothliegendes, and an upper series of dolomites, marls, limestones, etc., called the Zechstein. The flora of the Permian in general closely resembles that of the Carboniferous, and several of the most characteristic plants of the latter pass upward into the Permian, but rise no higher. They cycads appear first in the Permian, and are largely increased in number and importance in the Trias. The Permian fauna is, on the whole, less rich than those of the overlying and underlying groups. The Permian is of great economical importance in Europe, as the repository of extensive deposits of rock-salt, gypsum, and other saline combinatins.
- n. An inhabitant of Perm; also, one of a Finnic people dwelling in eastern Russia, chiefly in the government of Perm.
Wiktionary
- adj. geology Of a geologic period within the Paleozoic era; comprises the Cisuralian, Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs from about 280 to 248 million years ago.
- n. geology The Permian period.
- n. One of a branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples, including Komis and Udmurts, who speak Permic languages.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. (Geol.) Belonging or relating to the period, and also to the formation, next following the Carboniferous, and regarded as closing the Carboniferous age and Paleozoic era.
WordNet 3.0
- n. from 280 million to 230 million years ago; reptiles.
Etymologies
- After Perm Oblast, a region of west-central Russia. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“For hundreds of millions of years they dominated the planet; during their later years some species took on a bizarre, grotesque appearance, with huge spiny protuberances and great bulging eyes, giving them the look of visitors from another planet; and then, abruptly, in the era that we call the Permian, they disappeared completely from the world.”
“Twelve thousand feet of sand, limestone, and silica were left behind by the sea’s ebb, collecting in what is known as the Permian Basin.”
“The Permian is a very significant asset in our North America portfolio.”
“The Permian was a time of pronounced changes in plant and animal life, and a transitional period between two great eras.”
“These marks of decay in the marine life continue into the beds just after the Carboniferous, known as the Permian, which are really the last stages of the coal-bearing period.”
Young Folks' Library, Volume XI (of 20) Wonders of Earth, Sea and Sky
“Researchers at the University of Calgary have discovered evidence suggesting that massive volcanic eruptions at the time burnt significant volumes of coal, producing choking clouds of ash and dust that had broad impact on global oceans, and may explain the massive devastation, an event known as the Permian extinction.”
“Permian, which is named for the geologic period that ran from about 290 million to 250 million years ago, focuses on what it deems undervalued companies, mostly in Western Europe.”
“The mammal-like reptiles, or Therapsids had first appeared about 285 million years ago near the beginning of the Permian, which is well before the dinosaurs.”
“Ninety percent of marine and 70 percent of terrestrial creatures perished suddenly in an event variously called the Permian extinction, the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) extinction, or the Great Dying.”
“This is what is known as the Permian-Triassic Extinction, but sometimes it will simply be referred to as the Great Dying.”
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