Iapetus

Pronunciation

• IPA: /aɪˈæpɪtÉ™s/

Alternative forms

• Japetus

Origin

Ancient Greek Ἰαπετός.

Full definition of Iapetus

Proper noun

1. (Greek god) A Titan, the son of Uranus and Gaia, and father of Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius.
2. (astronomy) The third largest moon of Saturn
3. (geology) An ancient ocean which existed between 600 and 400 million years ago.
• 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society 2011, p. 184:So, in the early Ordovician, Iapetus was wide enough to have one side in high latitudes and the other in the tropics: a massive ocean, indeed.

Derived terms

• Iapetian