Definitions

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

  • adjective Originating or formed in a place other than where found.
  • adjective Ecology Not indigenous.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Originating in a place other than where it is found.
  • adjective geology Buried or found in a place remote from the site of formation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of rocks, deposits, etc.; found in a place other than where they and their constituents were formed

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Ancient Greek ἄλλος (allos, "other") + χθών (khthōn, "earth, ground")

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Examples

Comments

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  • You mean the rocks all over my house are allochthonous? What about the rocks in my head?

    Seriously, thanks for listing this word!

    July 11, 2007

  • material (e.g. organic matter and sediment) which enters a lake from atmosphere or drainage basin.

    March 6, 2008

  • JM looks up allochthonous looks just to see what he can see.

    October 26, 2010