An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

The time-scale of geologic processes which is millions or billions of years in contrast to the few thousand years claimed by supporters of the → creationism.

The concept of “deep time” was first described in 1788 by the Scottish geologist James Hutton (1726-1797) in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The term was coined by the American author John McPhee (1931-).

See also: → deep; → time.