Archaeozoicn.adj.
/ˌɑːkɪəˈzəʊɪk/, U.S. /ˌɑrkiəˈzoʊɪk/ Geology.
A. n.
With the. The part of Precambrian time, ending about 2,500 million years ago, which immediately preceded the Proterozoic eon.Some rocks which formed during this period are thought to show (typically indirect) evidence of the earliest forms of life.The period preceding the Proterozoic eon is now more commonly referred to as the Archaean.
ΚΠ
1872 J. D. Dana Corals & Coral Islands App. i. 373 The rocks supposed to be Azoic have been found to afford evidence of the existence of the simplest kinds of life during their formation; and the era they represent, is, therefore, more correctly styled the Archeozoic.
1937 Jrnl. Geol. (Chicago) 45 674 The division between the Archean and the Algonkian (Archeozoic and Proterozoic).
2015 M. Fontani et al. Lost Elements (e-book ed.) iv. iv. Mica from Arendal dating back to the Archaeozoic and rich in traces of uranium.
B. adj.
Designating the part of Precambrian time, ending about 2,500 million years ago, which immediately preceded the Proterozoic eon; of, relating to, or occurring during this time.See note at sense A.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > age or period > [adjective] > pre-Cambrian > Archaean
Archaean1872
Archaeozoic1878
1878 Phrenol. Jrnl. Feb. 73/1 First [epoch]. The Primordial or azoic time, the Acephalic or headless age.., the Archæolithic or archæozoic age... This period lasted much longer than all the other ages together.
1952 W. J. Miller Introd. Hist. Geol. (ed. 6) ix. 83 Iron ore in workable beds occur in the Archeozoic rocks of the Vermilion district just west of Lake Superior.
2000 Encycl. S. Carolina (ed. 2) I. 11 More than a billion years ago, in the Archaeozoic era, schistose rock of great but unknown thickness extended along what is now the Appalachian and Piedmont Plateau region of North America.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2021).
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n.adj.1872