# Ordovician

> English word · Adjective · frequency rank #43,817

## Definitions
1. Of a geologic period within the Paleozoic era; comprises lower, middle and upper epochs from about 488 to 443 million years ago.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₃erg-der.?
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der.?
Proto-Celtic *ordosder.
Proto-Indo-European *weyk-der.
Proto-Celtic *wiketider.
Latin Ordovīcēslbor.
English Ordovices
Proto-Indo-European *-nós
Proto-Italic *-nos
Latin -nus
Latin -ānus
Latin -iānusbor.
English -ian
English Ordovician
From Ordovices + -ian. Coined by English geologist Charles Lapworth in 1879 after the Celtic tribe of the Ordovices.

## Common misspellings (14)
`odrovician`, `orddovician`, `ordoivcian`, `ordovciian`, `ordovicain`, `ordoviccian`, `ordoviciann`, `ordovicina`, `ordoviican`, `ordovvician`, `ordvoician`, `orodvician`, `orrdovician`, `rodovician`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ordovician