The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rhaetian \Rh[ae]"ti*an\, a & n. Rhetain.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1600, from Latin Rhætia, ancient name of a district in the Alps and of a Roman province between the Rhine, Danube, and Po; from Rhaeti, Raiti, name of a native people. Hence Rhaeto-Romanic (1867), Rhaeto-Romance, language of the Tyrol and southern Switzerland.
Wikipedia
The Raetians or Rhaetians were some of the most powerful and warlike of the Alpine tribes. Rhaetian may refer to:
- Raetian language, spoken in ancient times by the tribes in the Eastern Alpine areas, in Switzerland, Austria, North-Eastern Italy and Southern Germany)
- Rhaetian languages, the modern Romance languages spoken in Switzerland and North-Eastern Italy
- Raetia (so always in inscriptions; classical manuscripts usually use the form Rhaetia), a province of the Roman Empire that comprised the districts occupied in modern times by Graubünden, Vorarlberg, the greater part of Tirol, and part of Lombardy. The designation'' Raetia'' continued to be used in Carolingian times
- The Rhaetian, the final subdivision of the Triassic (203.6 ± 1.5 – 199.6 ± 0.6 MYA), named for its type sites in the eastern Alps
- The Rhätische Bahn(Rhaetian Railway), called the RhB, which has the largest network of all the private railways in Switzerland
The Rhaetian is, in geochronology, the latest age of the Triassic period or in chronostratigraphy the uppermost stage of the Triassic system. It lasted from to million years ago. It was preceded by the Norian and succeeded by the Hettangian (the lowermost stage or earliest age of the Jurassic).
In this age, Pangaea began to break up, though the Atlantic Ocean was not yet formed.
Usage examples of "rhaetian".
After draining many capacious bowls of Rhaetian or Falernian wine, he called for the skull of Cunimund, the noblest and most precious ornament of his sideboard.
Unit commander Froisson will lead the rest of the force into the Rhaetian hills to await our return in their shelter.
About fifteen leagues south of the Rhaetian ranges, heading due south.
So, if Caelum rides fifteen leagues below the Rhaetian ranges, how long will it take the Norsmen to reach him?
It was still windswept, but here, at the edge of river and the Rhaetian hills, there was more vegetation and dozens of deep burrows where, Drago thought, might huddle those creatures not yet driven insane by the Demons' touch.
The train chugged into the lowering Rhaetian Alps, passed through the dramatic Landquart Gorge, and followed a new river upstream.
The Rhaetian Railway crossed the Landquart River high on a terrifying lofty bridge, climbed through magnificent pine forests, and chugged past a ski center called Wolfgang.