/plooh"vee euhl/ , adj.
1. of or pertaining to rain, esp. much rain; rainy.
2. Geol. occurring through the action of rain.
n.
3. Geol. a rainy period formerly regarded as coeval with a glacial age, but now recognized as episodic and, in the tropics, as characteristic of interglacial ages.
[ 1650-60; pluvialis, equiv. to pluvi ( a ) rain + -alis -AL 1 ]