Meanings
plural supercontinents
- geographyA very large continent that split into smaller ones in the Earth’s geologic past.
For a supercontinent to form requires a significant volume of continental crustal fragments that survive recycling into the mantle.
2001, Kent C. Condie, Mantle Plumes and Their Record in Earth History, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 2371 more example
Some 200 million years ago, the rocks that became the Palisades cliffs just across the Hudson River from Manhattan formed during volcanic activity that helped rip apart the ancient supercontinent Pangea.
2022 February 3, Lucas Joel, “Dissolving in Toxic Oceans: How an Ancient Extinction Happened”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Mar 2022 - A modern landmass composed of multiple continents, i.e. Afro-Eurasia or the Americas.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*úp
- Proto-Indo-European*upér
- Proto-Italic*super
- Latinsuper
- Latinsuper-
- Englishsuper-
- Englishcontinent
- Englishsupercontinent
Translations
Danish superkontinent
- superkontinentone of modern landmasses
Dutch supercontinent, oercontinent
- supercontinentvery large continent in the Earth's past
- oercontinentvery large continent in the Earth's past
- supercontinentone of modern landmasses
Esperanto kotinentego, superkontinento
- kotinentegovery large continent in the Earth's past
- superkontinentovery large continent in the Earth's past
Estonian hiidmanner, hiidmanner
- hiidmannervery large continent in the Earth's past
- hiidmannerone of modern landmasses
Finnish jättiläismanner, suurmanner
- jättiläismannervery large continent in the Earth's past
- suurmannerone of modern landmasses
French supercontinent, supercontinent
- supercontinentvery large continent in the Earth's past
- supercontinentone of modern landmasses
German Superkontinent, Doppelkontinent
- Superkontinentvery large continent in the Earth's past
- Doppelkontinentone of modern landmasses
Greek υπερήπειρος, υπερήπειρος
- υπερήπειρος (yperípeiros)very large continent in the Earth's past
- υπερήπειρος (yperípeiros)one of modern landmasses
Japanese 超大陸
- 超大陸 (chōtairiku)very large continent in the Earth's past
Norwegian superkontinent
- superkontinentvery large continent in the Earth's past
Portuguese supercontinente, supercontinente
- supercontinentevery large continent in the Earth's past
- supercontinenteone of modern landmasses
Russian суперконтине́нт, суперконтине́нт
- суперконтине́нт (superkontinént)very large continent in the Earth's past
- суперконтине́нт (superkontinént)one of modern landmasses
Spanish supercontinente, supercontinente
- supercontinentevery large continent in the Earth's past
- supercontinenteone of modern landmasses
Swedish superkontinent, superkontinent
- superkontinentvery large continent in the Earth's past
- superkontinentone of modern landmasses
Thai มหาทวีป, มหาทวีป
- มหาทวีปvery large continent in the Earth's past
- มหาทวีปone of modern landmasses
Cite this entry
supercontinent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supercontinent
“supercontinent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supercontinent. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “supercontinent,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supercontinent.
Source: supercontinent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.