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epoch

An epoch is a period of time marked by certain characteristics: you might describe several peaceful decades in a nation's history as an epoch of peace.

In geologic time, an epoch is a division of a period, and an age is a division of an epoch. An epoch can also mean the beginning of a new and important period of history, or an event that marks such a period: an epoch in the world of ballet. The noun epoch is from New Latin epocha, from Greek epochē "pause, check, fixed time.

DEFINITIONS OF: epoch

n a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event

Synonyms:: era

Examples:: show 16 examples...; hide 16 examples...; Caliphate
the era of Islam's ascendancy from the death of Mohammed until the 13th century; some Moslems still maintain that the Moslem world must always have a calif as head of the community; Christian era
the time period beginning with the supposed year of Christ's birth; Age of Reason
a movement in Europe from about 1650 until 1800 that advocated the use of reason and individualism instead of tradition and established doctrine; Elizabethan age
a period in British history during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century; an age marked by literary achievement and domestic prosperity; Victorian age
a period in British history during the reign of Queen Victoria in the 19th century; her character and moral standards restored the prestige of the British monarchy but gave the era a prudish reputation; Baroque period
the historic period from about 1600 until 1750 when the baroque style of art, architecture, and music flourished in Europe; Middle Ages
the period of history between classical antiquity and the Italian Renaissance; Renaissance
the period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the modern world; a cultural rebirth from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries; Italian Renaissance
the early period when Italy was the center of the Renaissance; technological revolution
the transformation from an agricultural to an industrial nation; Reign of Terror
the historic period (1793-94) during the French Revolution when thousands were executed; Harlem Renaissance
a period in the 1920s when African-American achievements in art and music and literature flourished; New Deal
the historic period (1933-1940) in the United States during which President Franklin Roosevelt's economic policies were implemented; Reconstruction Period
the period after the American Civil War when the southern states were reorganized and reintegrated into the Union; 1865-1877; Restoration
the reign of Charles II in England; 1660-1685; Great Depression
a period during the 1930s when there was a worldwide economic depression and mass unemployment

Types:: show 9 types...; hide 9 types...; day
an era of existence or influence; age, historic period
an era of history having some distinctive feature; modern era
the present or recent times; antiquity
the historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe; golden age
any period (sometimes imaginary) of great peace and prosperity and happiness; information age
a period beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century when information became easily accessible through publications and through the manipulation of information by computers and computer networks; Jazz Age
the 1920s in the United States characterized in the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald as a period of wealth, youthful exuberance, and carefree hedonism; reign
the period during which a monarch is sovereign; turn of the century
the period from about ten years before to ten years after a new century

Type of:: period, period of time, time period
an amount of time

n a unit of geological time that is a subdivision of a period and is itself divided into ages

Examples:: show 7 examples...; hide 7 examples...; Holocene epoch
approximately the last 10,000 years; Pleistocene epoch
from two million to 11 thousand years ago; extensive glaciation of the northern hemisphere; the time of human evolution; Pliocene epoch
from 13 million to 2 million years ago; growth of mountains; cooling of climate; more and larger mammals; Miocene epoch
from 25 million to 13 million years ago; appearance of grazing mammals; Oligocene epoch
from 40 million to 25 million years ago; appearance of sabertoothed cats; Eocene epoch
from 58 million to 40 million years ago; presence of modern mammals; Paleocene epoch
from 63 million to 58 million years ago; appearance of birds and earliest mammals

Type of:: geologic time, geological time
the time of the physical formation and development of the earth (especially prior to human history)

n (astronomy) an arbitrarily fixed date that is the point in time relative to which information (as coordinates of a celestial body) is recorded

Synonyms:: date of reference

Type of:: date
the particular day, month, or year (usually according to the Gregorian calendar) that an event occurred

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