* "uni": This prefix means "one" or "single."
* "form": This is the root word, referring to shape or structure.
* "ity": This suffix indicates a state or condition.
* "arian": This suffix denotes a follower or supporter of a particular doctrine or theory.
* "ism": This suffix indicates a doctrine, system, or theory.
Therefore, "uniformitarianism" literally means "the theory of one form," or more precisely, "the doctrine that the Earth's geological processes have operated at the same rates and in the same ways throughout history."