supercontinent

noun

su·​per·​con·​ti·​nent ˈsü-pər-ˌkän-tə-nənt How to pronounce supercontinent (audio)
-ˌkänt-nənt
: a hypothetical former large continent from which other continents are held to have broken off and drifted away

Examples of supercontinent in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Even more broadly, the makeup of the organisms at the site demonstrates how different groups of reptiles were moving around the supercontinent Pangea prior to a mass extinction 201 million years ago that ended the Triassic and began the Jurassic. Riley Black, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 July 2025 The Earth’s climate was warm at the beginning of the Jurassic and without polar ice, meaning animals from mammals to amphibians to dinosaurs were able to more easily move across the Pangea supercontinent, researchers said. Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 17 June 2025 The Stac Fada Member — part of the supercontinent Rodinia 1 billion years ago — preserves what Earth's surface environments were like before and after the impact, study co-author Tony Prave, an emeritus professor of geoscience at the University of St Andrews, told Live Science. Patrick Pester, Space.com, 12 May 2025 During that time, landmasses consolidated into a supercontinent called Rodinia and then broke apart again. Mindy Weisberger, CNN, 26 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for supercontinent

Word History

First Known Use

1960, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of supercontinent was in 1960

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Supercontinent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supercontinent. Accessed 20 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

supercontinent

noun
su·​per·​con·​ti·​nent ˈsü-pər-ˌkänt-ᵊn-ənt How to pronounce supercontinent (audio)
-ˌkänt-nənt
: a former large continent which is assumed to have existed and from which other continents broke off and drifted away

More from Merriam-Webster on supercontinent

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!