index fossil

1. 1.

   a fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to date the rock layer in which it is found

   Synonymsguide fossil

   Broaderfossil

Questions about index fossil

What does index fossil mean?

index fossil means "a fossil known to have lived in a particular geologic age that can be used to date the rock layer in which it is found".

What is another word for index fossil?

Close synonyms include guide fossil. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is index fossil a common word?

index fossil is banded "Rare" — specialist or archaic — most readers will not have met it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.