a. Geol. [f. Erie, name of the lake + -IAN.] A synonym of DEVONIAN: see quots.
1873. Dawson, Earth & Man, v. 84. The Devonian, or, as it may be better called in America, from the vast development of its beds on the south side of Lake Erie, the Erian formation. Ibid. (1877), Orig. World, 380. Erian and Carboniferous plants.
