Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun One that originated or was formed in a place other than where it is found, especially a rock formation that has been displaced.
  • noun A member of a human population that relocated or was displaced from a particular area.
  • noun Ecology A plant or animal that is not indigenous.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[German : allo-, allo- (from Greek, from allos, other; see al- in Indo-European roots) + Greek khthōn, earth; see dhghem- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • Drilling has confirmed a broad zone of anomalous gold mineralization believed related to a deeper high grade target within lower plate rocks of the Roberts Mountain allochthon.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2009

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