Dictionary

Carboniferous en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌkɑːbəˈnɪfəɹəs/ (UK)

Etymology

From carboniferous (“producing carbon”), from carbon + -i- + -ferous.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Of a geologic period within the Paleozoic era; comprises the lower, middle and upper Mississippian and lower, middle and upper Pennsylvanian epochs from about 345 to 280 million years ago, when coal was laid down.
   • The earliest ink sacs appear in the fossil record in the Carboniferous period around 330 million years ago in cephalopods such as Donovaniconus, Gordoniconus and Saundersites which show a mix of features from older and more modern groups and are placed in their own order, Donovaniconida (Doguzhaeva 2012). 2017 August 9, Mark Carnall, “Why do cephalopods produce ink? And what's ink made of, anyway?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 12 Jan 2026:

Translations (13)

es carbonífero (relating to the geologic period) · pl karboński (relating to the geologic period) · fi hiilikautinen (relating to the geologic period) · pt carbonífero (relating to the geologic period) · fr carbonifère (relating to the geologic period) · de karbonisch (relating to the geologic period) · fi kivihiilikautinen (relating to the geologic period) · nl carbonisch (relating to the geologic period) · ru каменноу́гольный (relating to the geologic period) · el λιθανθρακοφόρος (relating to the geologic period) · pt carbônico (relating to the geologic period) · ca carbonífer (relating to the geologic period) · pt carbónico (relating to the geologic period)

Carboniferous en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌkɑːbəˈnɪfəɹəs/ (UK)

Etymology

From carboniferous (“producing carbon”), from carbon + -i- + -ferous.

Meanings

1. The Carboniferous period.

Forms

Deriveds

Permo-Carboniferous · Subcarboniferous

Translations (25)

no karbontiden (the geologic period) · hu karbon (the geologic period) · fi hiilikausi (the geologic period) · pl karbon (the geologic period) · et karbon (the geologic period) · vi kỉ Than Đá (the geologic period) · cs karbon (the geologic period) · sv karbon (the geologic period) · mn Чулуун нүүрсний галав (the geologic period) · ru каменноу́гольный пери́од (the geologic period) · vi kỉ Các-bon (the geologic period) · et kivisöeajastu (the geologic period) · de Karbon (the geologic period) · es carbonífero (the geologic period) · nl carboon (the geologic period) · fi kivihiilikausi (the geologic period) · la Carboniferum (the geologic period) · pt Carbonífero (the geologic period) · cmn 石炭紀 /石炭纪 (the geologic period) · no karbontida (the geologic period) · fr Carbonifère (the geologic period) · mn Карбоны галав (the geologic period) · sv stenkolsperioden (the geologic period) · el Λιθανθρακοφόρος (the geologic period) · ja 石炭紀 (the geologic period)