epoch

[ep-uhk, ee-pok]

noun

1. a particular period of time marked by distinctive features, events, etc..

   The treaty ushered in an epoch of peace and good will.

   Synonyms: time, era, date, age

2. the beginning of a distinctive period in the history of anything.

   The splitting of the atom marked an epoch in scientific discovery.

3. a point of time distinguished by a particular event or state of affairs; a memorable date.

   His coming of age was an epoch in his life.

4. Geology.,  any of several divisions of a geologic period during which a geologic series is formed.

5. Astronomy.

   1. an arbitrarily fixed instant of time or date, usually the beginning of a century or half century, used as a reference in giving the elements of a planetary orbit or the like.

   2. the mean longitude of a planet as seen from the sun at such an instant or date.

6. Physics.,  the displacement from zero at zero time of a body undergoing simple harmonic motion.

epoch

/ ˈiːpɒk, ˈɛpˌɒkəl /

noun

1. a point in time beginning a new or distinctive period

   the invention of nuclear weapons marked an epoch in the history of warfare

2. a long period of time marked by some predominant or typical characteristic; era

3. astronomy a precise date to which information, such as coordinates, relating to a celestial body is referred

4. geology a unit of geological time within a period during which a series of rocks is formed

   the Pleistocene epoch

5. physics the displacement of an oscillating or vibrating body at zero time

epoch

1. The shortest division of geologic time. An epoch is a subdivision of a period.

Other Word Forms

• epochal adjective
• epochally adverb
• subepoch noun
• superepoch noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of epoch¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from New Latin epocha, from Greek epochḗ “pause, check, fixed time,” from ep- ep- + och- (variant stem of échein “to have, hold, keep”) + -ē, noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of epoch¹

C17: from New Latin epocha, from Greek epokhē cessation; related to ekhein to hold, have

Synonym Study

See age.

Example Sentences

In the first document, Mr Collins sets out that the government at the time saw China as an "evolving and epoch defining challenge".

Read more on BBC

At the time, despite Picasso’s global renown, few collectors had the mettle for the revolutionary but difficult Cubist epoch.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As Dickens prophetically reminds us, ours is hardly the first age of wisdom and of foolishness, the first epoch of belief and of incredulity.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

While that’s yet to be definitively proven, we’re certainly at the end of a previous epoch in which upward mobility felt more achievable.

Read more on Salon

Even its tidy running time is from another epoch.

Read more on Los Angeles Times