midlittoraladj.n.
/ˌmɪdˈlɪt(ə)rəl/, /ˌmɪdˈlɪt(ə)rl̩/, U.S. /ˌmɪdˈlɪdər(ə)l/ Ecology.
A. adj.
Belonging to or designating the zone of a seashore which is both covered and uncovered by neap tides.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > seashore or coast > [adjective] > beach
beached-up1600
sublittoral1839
beachside1869
midlittoral1912
1912 Johns Hopkins Univ. Circular No. 242. 2 The midlitoral belt of vegetation (1½ to 6½ feet) is dominated on the natural shores of the harbor by a dense stand of Spartina cynosuroides.
1936 Jrnl. Ecol. 24 408 The Laurencia-Corallina association might extend up from below, or the rock be colonised by some new association suited to the exposure of a mid-littoral situation.
1970 R. C. Newell Biol. Intertidal Animals i. 2 The second zone recognised by Stephenson and Stephenson (1949) is the midlittoral zone, characterized by barnacles and limpets.
1984 A. C. Duxbury & A. Duxbury Introd. World's Oceans xv. 479 Small sea anemones..are also found in the higher regions of the midlittoral zone.
1995 Ecol. Monogr. 65 373/1 The California mussel..is the dominant competitor for primary space on the midlittoral substratum.
B. n.
The midlittoral zone.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > shore or bank > seashore or coast > [noun] > beach or foreshore
strand plat1582
beach1600
playa1600
wash1614
foreshore1764
sublittoral1886
shore zone1921
midlittoral1948
1948 Austral. Jrnl. Sci. Res. B. 1 196 (heading) The mid- and upper-littoral.
1974 Encycl. Brit. Macropædia IV. 804/1 The midlittoral of sand and mud shores is usually inhabited by several types of polychaete worms.
1998 Jrnl. Nat. Hist. 32 1707 The crabs were collected monthly at the midlittoral of a boulder and cobble seashore at Farol Island.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1912