Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
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noun
Either of two climatic stages of the late glacial period in Northern Europe in which plants of the genus Dryas were abundant
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: geography, geology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Any of several plants of the genus Dryas; the mountain avens.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
One of two periods of cold and increased glaciation thousands of years before the present (Younger Dryas and Older Dryas).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
mountain avens
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: genus Dryas
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: rosid dicot genus
History
Named after the wildflower Dryas octopetala, fossils of which dated to approximately the Younger Dryas period are common in parts of Europe.
Borrowed from translingual Dryas for the plants, from both Latin Dryas and Ancient Greek Δρῠᾰ́ς (Drŭắs), derived from δρῦς (drûs, “tree, oak”). The second definition comes from the large quantity of pollen from the plant that is found in ice cores dating from these periods.
