a. and sb. Also 7 litorall, litteral, 7–9 litoral. [ad. L. littorālis, better lītorālis, f. lītor-, lītus (often written littus) shore. Cf. F. littoral.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to the shore; existing, taking place upon, or adjacent to the shore.
1656. in Blount, Glossogr.
1657. W. Rand, trans. Gassendi’s Life Peiresc, II. 125. The litteral parts when they are just against the rising Sun are sooner inlightned.
1803. Edin. Rev., I. 378. The British forces would only attack by sea, or by a littoral warfare.
1833. Lyell, Princ. Geol., III. 346. The littoral Cordillera of Brazil.
1853. Phillips, Rivers Yorksh., v. 151. The beneficial action of the sea air is apparent on our littoral climate.
1869. Rawlinson, Anc. Hist., 320. The littoral extent of Italy is, in proportion to its area, very considerable.
1875. Wonders Phys. World, II. ii. 223. The ice of littoral glaciers exhibits a green colour.
1895. Hoffmann, Begin. Writing, 44. The Innuit of littoral Alaska.
b. Zool., Geol., etc.: Growing, living or deposited on the ‘littoral zone’ (see quot. 1876).
1661. Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Introd. Fishes … are either pelagious, living in the main sea,… or litorall, living neer the shore.
1731. Bailey, vol. II. Litoral shells.
1776. Da Costa, Conchology, 66. Some [Shell-fish] are even littoral, or inhabit the shores.
1830. Lyell, Princ. Geol., I. 151. There were then also littoral formations in progress, such as are indicated by the English Crag.
1845. Darwin, Voy. Nat., xiii. (1879), 285. The islands were here … composed of a stratified, soft, littoral deposit.
1866. Tate, Brit. Mollusks, iv. 82. Limax gagates is a littoral animal.
1876. Page, Adv. Text-bk. Geol., iii. 76. The Littoral [zone] lies between high and low water mark.
1880. Gray, Struct. Bot., 419/1. Litoral, Littoral, Belonging to or growing on the seashore or rivershore.
B. sb. A littoral district; the region lying along the shore. [After It. littorale, F. littoral.]
[1815. Wellington, in Gurw., Desp. (1838), XII. 287. By the cession to Geneva of part of the littorale of the lake by the King of Sardinia.]
1828. [J. R. Best], Italy, 54. He has obtained a littoral, or sea-coast, stretching along the whole of his continental territory.
1859. W. H. Gregory, Egypt, II. 193. The towns along the Mediterranean littoral.
1868. E. P. Wright, Ocean World, iv. 79. The sand of the littoral of all existing seas is so full of these minute but elegant shells.
1882. E. O’Donovan, Merv Oasis, Pref. 7. The Russian settlements on the Eastern Caspian littoral.
1894. Pop. Sci. Monthly, June, 162. The portion of the Caribbean littoral commonly known as the Mosquito Coast.
