- supporting, conforming to, or derived from a theory or doctrine about uniformity, especially on the subject of geology.
- Geology. of or relating to the thesis that processes that operated in the remote geological past are not different from those observed now.
- a person who accepts or supports a uniformitarian theory.
Origin of uniformitarian
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for uniformitarian
He was the forerunner of Lyell and of the uniformitarian school of geologists.
He was ignorant enough to think that the glacial epoch looked like a chasm between him and a uniformitarian world.The Education of Henry Adams
It has often been assumed that Lyell was led by the study of Hutton's works to adopt the Uniformitarian' doctrines.The Coming of Evolution
John W. (John Wesley) Judd
The uniformitarian teaching which Lyell deduced from geological observation had gained acceptance.Evolution in Modern Thought
And here Lamarck, in spite of his uniformitarian principles, is strongly cataclysmic.
- of or relating to uniformitarianism
- of, characterized by, or conforming to uniformity
- a supporter of a theory of uniformity or of uniformitarianism
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012