Riphaean

R1I1P3H4A1E1A1N1
UK/ˈɹɪfɪən/UK/ˈɹʌɪfɪən/

adjective

Designating a range of mountains once thought to be located in northern Europe, later considered mythological or identified with the Urals.

OriginLatin Rīphaeus →
First used 16th c.Scrabble 13
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Meanings

adjectiveRiphaean (not comparable)

alternative Riphæan · alternative Riphean · alternative Riphœan · alternative Riphoean

  1. historicalnot comparableDesignating a range of mountains once thought to be located in northern Europe, later considered mythological or identified with the Urals.First known use 16th c.

    The substance, whereof she the body made, / Was purest snow in massy mould congeald, / Which she had gathered in a shady glade / Of the Riphœan hills […]

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
proper nounthe Riphaean

alternative Riphæan · alternative Riphean · alternative Riphœan · alternative Riphoean

  1. geographyAn age from 1650 to 650 million years ago, a subdivision of the Proterozoic.

Origin

  1. LatinRīphaeus
  2. EnglishRiphaean

From Latin Rīphaeus + -an. Compare Rhipaean.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

aphrenia
Cite this entry
APA

Riphaean. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Riphaean

MLA

“Riphaean.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Riphaean. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Riphaean,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Riphaean.

Source: Riphaean on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.