Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A horizontal layer of material, especially one of several parallel layers arranged one on top of another.
- noun Geology A bed or layer of sedimentary rock that is visually distinguishable from adjacent beds or layers.
- noun Any of the regions of the atmosphere, such as the troposphere, that occur as layers.
- noun Biology A layer of tissue.
- noun A level of society composed of people with similar social, cultural, or economic status.
- noun One of a number of layers, levels, or divisions in an organized system.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A layer of material, formed either naturally or artificially.
- noun In archæol. excavations, one of the layers of deposits left by successive civilizations, as in the overlying cities at Hissarlik, the ancient Troy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Geol.) A bed of earth or rock of one kind, formed by natural causes, and consisting usually of a series of layers, which form a rock as it lies between beds of other kinds. Also used figuratively.
- noun A bed or layer artificially made; a course.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun One of several
parallel horizontal layers ofmaterial arranged one ontop ofanother . - noun geology A
layer ofsedimentary rock havingapproximately the samecomposition throughout. - noun Any of the
regions of theatmosphere , such as thestratosphere , that occur as layers. - noun biology A layer of
tissue . - noun A
class ofsociety composed ofpeople with similarsocial ,cultural , oreconomic status . - noun ecology A layer of vegetation, usually of similar height.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun one of several parallel layers of material arranged one on top of another (such as a layer of tissue or cells in an organism or a layer of sedimentary rock)
- noun people having the same social, economic, or educational status
- noun an abstract place usually conceived as having depth
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word stratum.
Examples
-
I laid the precious stratum, _super stratum_ upon the two former, and other deposits of
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 19, No. 529, January 14, 1832 Various
-
No, it means that too many people of a certain stratum of wealth and power have a dismissive attitude towards the rule of law, and we need to fix that with more severe sanctions.
-
The scrub stratum is composed mainly of Acacia farnesian, and Eysenhardtia polystachya, and herbaceous stratum is composed of Bouteloua filiformis, B. curtipendula, Hilaria cenchroides, Muhlenbergia stricta, and M. rigida.
Bajío dry forests 2007
-
I think the most significant effect of commerce and the social stratum is the strengthening of the middle class.
-
I think the most significant effect of commerce and the social stratum is the strengthening of the middle class.
-
He sees a certain stratum of clouds, and feels a certain humidity in the atmosphere, and in the past he has learned to associate those signs with a fine day tomorrow, so he says, "I see it is going to be a fine day."
The Art of Listening 1932
-
The stratum mucosum (mucous layer) is composed of several layers of cells; those of the deepest layer are columnar in shape and placed perpendicularly on the surface of the basement membrane, to which they are attached by toothed extremities; this deepest layer is sometimes termed the stratum germinativum; the succeeding strata consist of cells of a more rounded or polyhedral form, the contents of which are soft, opaque, granular, and soluble in acetic acid.
X. The Organs of the Senses and the Common Integument. 2. The Common Integument 1918
-
At no successive instants, during a bright day, after the earth has once been warmed to the temperature of the night air of the previous night, do the same particles touch the surface; an unremitting renewal of the surface air-stratum is in continual progress as long as the heat of the soil or terrestrial surface is greater than that of the air in contact with it.
-
Recover the integrity of the skin’s outer layer, which is called the stratum corneum
The Truth About Beauty Kat James 2007
-
The skin’s outer layer is called the stratum corneum.
The Truth About Beauty Kat James 2007
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.