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  • Bronze Age
    Bronze Age
    noun
    a period in the history of humankind, following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age, during which bronze weapons and implements were used.
  • bronze age
    bronze age
    noun
    classical myth a period of human existence marked by war and violence, following the golden and silver ages and preceding the iron age

Bronze Age

American  

noun

  1. a period in the history of humankind, following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age, during which bronze weapons and implements were used.

  2. (lowercase) the third of the four ages of the human race, marked by war and violence; regarded as inferior to the silver age but superior to the following iron age.


bronze age 1 British  

noun

  1. classical myth a period of human existence marked by war and violence, following the golden and silver ages and preceding the iron age

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Bronze Age 2 British  

noun

  1. archaeol

    1. a technological stage between the Stone and Iron Ages, beginning in the Middle East about 4500 bc and lasting in Britain from about 2000 to 500 bc , during which weapons and tools were made of bronze and there was intensive trading

    2. ( as modifier )

      a Bronze-Age tool

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Bronze Age Scientific  
  1. A period of human culture between the Stone Age and the Iron Age, characterized by the use of weapons and implements made of cast bronze. The beginning of the Bronze Age is generally dated before 3000 bce in parts of Mediterranean Europe, the Middle East, and China.

  2. See Note at Three Age system


Bronze Age Cultural  
  1. A period of history from roughly 4000 b.c. to the onset of the Iron Age. During the Bronze Age, people learned to make bronze tools. In the Bronze Age in Mesopotamia, the wheel and the ox-drawn plow were in use.


Etymology

Origin of Bronze Age

First recorded in 1860–65

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Set in the late Bronze Age, in about the 13th Century BC, The Odyssey tells the story of the hero Odysseus and his quest to return from the Trojan War to his kingdom of Ithaca.

From BBC Jul. 23, 2026

Nolan has anchored his “Odyssey” at the fall of the Bronze Age, a once-great era toppled by wealth-hoarding, diminished trade and climate catastrophes.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 15, 2026

Oetzi and these Bronze Age salt miners ate more fibre and whole grain than modern-day people, Sarhan explained.

From Barron's Jun. 3, 2026

Archaeologists have uncovered six previously unknown Bronze Age mining sites in Extremadura in southwestern Spain.

From Science Daily Apr. 29, 2026

“The Bronze Age? Goodness, I don’t know; about five thousand years ago,” she said.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman

Finally, from 5,000 years ago, the Corded Ware people expanded out of the Russian steppe to inaugurate the European bronze age.

From Science Daily May 30, 2026

He said he had already made a "good selection of bronze age finds" before discovering the pendant.

From BBC Sep. 10, 2021

He plays Dug, a bucktoothed cave-kid who spearheads a stone age tribe’s contest with a more sophisticated bronze age civilisation through the medium of football.

From The Guardian Sep. 19, 2019

No comparably detailed carvings have been found from the Aegean bronze age.

From National Geographic Nov. 7, 2017

Even during the bronze age, we find sculptured stones with representations of long row-boats, manned by several oarsmen, and in one or two cases actually bearing a rude sail.

From Early Britain Anglo-Saxon Britain by Allen, Grant

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