"Alvarez theory" meaning in English

See Alvarez theory in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proper name

Forms: the Alvarez theory [canonical]
Etymology: Named after Luis and Walter Alvarez, who suggested it in 1980. Head templates: {{en-prop|def=1}} the Alvarez theory
  1. The hypothesis that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth.
    Sense id: en-Alvarez_theory-en-name-A2YJYz1z Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries
     
{
  "etymology_text": "Named after Luis and Walter Alvarez, who suggested it in 1980.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "the Alvarez theory",
      "tags": [
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    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
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          "parents": [],
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The hypothesis that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth."
      ],
      "id": "en-Alvarez_theory-en-name-A2YJYz1z",
      "links": [
        [
          "hypothesis",
          "hypothesis"
        ],
        [
          "mass extinction",
          "mass extinction"
        ],
        [
          "non-avian dinosaur",
          "non-avian dinosaur"
        ],
        [
          "Cretaceous",
          "Cretaceous"
        ],
        [
          "Paleogene",
          "Paleogene"
        ],
        [
          "extinction event",
          "extinction event"
        ],
        [
          "asteroid",
          "asteroid"
        ],
        [
          "Earth",
          "Earth"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Alvarez theory"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Named after Luis and Walter Alvarez, who suggested it in 1980.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "the Alvarez theory",
      "tags": [
        "canonical"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "def": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "the Alvarez theory",
      "name": "en-prop"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "name",
  "senses": [
    {
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        "English eponyms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
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        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The hypothesis that the mass extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and many other living things during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event was caused by the impact of a large asteroid on the Earth."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "hypothesis",
          "hypothesis"
        ],
        [
          "mass extinction",
          "mass extinction"
        ],
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          "non-avian dinosaur",
          "non-avian dinosaur"
        ],
        [
          "Cretaceous",
          "Cretaceous"
        ],
        [
          "Paleogene",
          "Paleogene"
        ],
        [
          "extinction event",
          "extinction event"
        ],
        [
          "asteroid",
          "asteroid"
        ],
        [
          "Earth",
          "Earth"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "Alvarez theory"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (d9fa233 and 9e92f4b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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