Home British & World English Oxfordian

Definition of Oxfordian in English:

Oxfordian

adjective

1Geology
Relating to or denoting an age in the Upper Jurassic period, lasting from about 157 to 155 million years ago.
Also called Corallian
- ‘This organic-rich interval apparently has some lateral continuity outside the British Isles, although the zonal schemes are difficult to cross-correlate because of the provincial nature of Oxfordian ammonites.’
- ‘There are no Middle-Upper Callovian, Oxfordian or Kimmeridgian sequences preserved on the Jurassic carbonate platform edge in the Oman Mountains.’
- ‘A prominent negative carbon isotope pulse lasting a few 10 years has been identified in Oxfordian sediments.’
- ‘The uppermost Guweyza, overlain by the Sid'r Formation, has yielded Oxfordian radiolarians in a more distal section.’
- ‘Fluids escaping along the bounding faults at shallow levels fluidized uncemented Oxfordian sands, which were subsequently injected into the overlying Kimmeridgian strata.’
2Relating to or denoting the theory that Edward de Vere (1550–1604), Earl of Oxford, wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare.
- ‘There is for example, no direct link to a discussion of the Oxfordian debate.’
- ‘For much worse than professional disclaimers of interest in Shakespeare's life is the ugly social denial at the heart of the Oxfordian pursuit.’
- ‘That includes, for instance, the view of the Oxfordian group of scholars who say that de Vere, educated in the classics, well-travelled and acquainted with heartache and tragedy, is the man.’

noun

1the OxfordianGeology
The Oxfordian age or the system of rocks (chiefly coral-derived limestones) deposited during it.
2A supporter of the Oxfordian theory.
- ‘By some his literary capacities have been highly regarded: J. T. Looney identified him in 1920 as the author of Shakespeare's plays, and a sizeable body of ‘Oxfordians’ have since built on this claim.’
- ‘There are a high level of contention between the two factions - the Stratfordians and the Oxfordians.’