laurentia
/lɑˈɹɛn.ʃə/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.55 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
The craton that forms the geological core of North America, and that was a separate continent in the past (before merging into Laurasia).
name
Example Sentences
- "Laurentia includes most of North America, Scotland and Ireland north of the Caledonian suture, Greenland, Spitzbergen, and the Chukotsk peninsula of eastern Siberia."
Etymology
A New Latin formation named after the Saint Lawrence River: Laurentius (“Lawrence”) + -ia (New Latin suffix for creating place names). Or, back-formed from Laurentian (from French laurentien), already in use to describe the Laurentian Mountains and their associated geologic complex (and by extension Canada as a whole).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: -, laurentien
- Suffix: Laurentius
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /lɑˈɹɛn.ʃə/
- British English: /lɒˈɹɛn.ʃə/