Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Corniferous \Cor*nif"er*ous\ (k?r-n?f"?r-?s), a. [L. cornu horn
   + -ferous.] (Geol.)
   Of or pertaining to the lowest period of the Devonian age.
   (See the Diagram, under {Geology}.) The Corniferous period
   has been so called from the numerous seams of hornstone which
   characterize the later part of the period, as developed in
   the State of New York.