Other forms: pluvials
The word pluvial is used in science to describe anything related to rain. A geologist might refer to a lake formed by ancient downpours as a pluvial lake.
Pluvial comes from the Latin word pluvia, meaning "rain." As a noun, it refers to a long stretch of Earth's history when certain regions received much more rainfall than they do today, creating massive lakes in what might now be deserts. Geologist study such ancient pluvial periods to understand climate shifts. Today, a meteorologist might refer to a season with abundant rainfall as a pluvial season. A rainforest has a pluvial climate. The word pluvial has the same root as pluvimeter, the technical name for a rain gauge.