Ever wonder what the word "littoral" means?

[Renew Deal]

I've seen lots of posts about "Littoral Combat Ships" and wondered what the word "littoral" meant. Here's the definition.

Littoral

lit·to·ral
[lit-er-uhl] Show IPA

adjective
1. of or pertaining to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.

2. (on ocean shores) of or pertaining to the biogeographic region between the sublittoral zone and the high-water line and sometimes including the supralittoral zone above the high-water line.

3. of or pertaining to the region of freshwater lake beds from the sublittoral zone up to and including damp areas on shore. Compare intertidal.

noun
4. a littoral region.

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Origin:
1650–60; < Latin littorālis, variant of lītorālis of the shore, equivalent to lītor- (stem of lītus ) shore + -ālis -al1

Can be confused: literal, littoral.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Littoral

[unhappycamper]

1. You may also hear references to the 'Brown Water Navy".

Brown water = littoral

[sharp_stick]

2. I think you missed a word

that it can be confused with. I walked past the TV one day and the CNN crawl was talking about littoral combat ships. I did a pretty quick double take.

Maybe that's just me though.

[Sedona]

3. It's a somewhat common real estate term

http://definitions.uslegal.com/l/littoral-owner/

A littoral owner refers to the owner of land adjacent to the shore. A lessee, licensee, or anyone acting under the littoral owner's authority can also be referred as a littoral.

The following is an example of a case law on littoral owner: While the title of the State to the bed of the lake extends to the natural high water mark, littoral owners have rights which are more extensive than those of the public generally. Such littoral owners have the right to erect wharves and other structures into the lake which are superior to the rights of those who have only the rights of a member of the public. Littoral owners may use the lakes and public waters in front of the property for recreational and other similar purposes in a more extensive manner than those who enjoy the rights to use the lake and public waters only as members of the public. [State v. George C. Stafford & Sons, 99 N.H. 92 (N.H. 1954)].


One of the hundreds of definitions I got to learn during my quest for an Arizona Real Estate Brokers License

[bluedigger]

5. That has to be one of the least used descriptors in AZ real estate.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Littorally!

[darkangel218]

4. Littoral means beach. i knew it before