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  era
• ERA
  ERA

  abbreviation

  earned run average.

era

¹ American  

[eer-uh, er-uh] / ˈɪər ə, ˈɛr ə /

noun

• eras
  plural

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

      The use of steam for power marked the beginning of an era.

   2. Slang. a period of time in a person’s life characterized by something distinctive and noticeable, such as a particular emotional state, relationship, achievement, or interest.

      She’s started wearing all black now that she’s in her sad girl era.

      They are definitely in their flop era and could use a complete makeover.

2. the period of time to which anything belongs or is to be assigned.

   She was born in the era of hansoms and gaslight.

3. a system of chronologic notation reckoned from a given date.

   The era of the Romans was based upon the time the city of Rome was founded.

4. a point of time from which succeeding years are numbered, as at the beginning of a system of chronology.

   Caesar died many years before our era.

5. a date or an event forming the beginning of any distinctive period.

   The year 1492 marks an era in world history.

6. Geology. a major division of geologic time composed of a number of periods.

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ERA ² American  

abbreviation

1. Baseball. earned run average.

2. Emergency Relief Administration.

3. Equal Rights Amendment: proposed 27th amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender.

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era ¹ British  

/ ˈɪərə /

noun

1. a period of time considered as being of a distinctive character; epoch

2. an extended period of time the years of which are numbered from a fixed point or event

   the Christian era

3. a point in time, esp one beginning a new or distinctive period

   the discovery of antibiotics marked an era in modern medicine

4. geology a major division of geological time, divided into several periods

   the Mesozoic era

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ERA ² British  

/ ˈiːrə /

acronym

1. (in Britain) Education Reform Act: the 1988 act which established the key elements of the National Curriculum

2. (in the US) Equal Rights Amendment: a proposed amendment to the US Constitution enshrining equality between the sexes

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era Scientific  

/ îr′ə /

1. A division of geologic time, longer than a period and shorter than an eon.

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Synonym Usage

See age.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• eras
  plural

Etymology

Origin of era

First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin aera “fixed date, era, epoch (from which time is reckoned),” probably special use of Latin aera “counters,” plural of aes “piece of metal, money, brass”; akin to Gothic aiz, Old English ār ore, Sanskrit ayas “metal”

Explanation

An era is a period of time distinguished by a particular character. “It was the Eisenhower era, when people were more willing to serve in the military.” Era has a couple of great things about it. First, it is used whenever you talk about dinosaurs to describe the various geologic time periods, for instance the Paleozoic Era, or the Jurassic Era. Second, it is a word beloved of crossword puzzle editors, so if you’re looking for a three-letter word for an age, look no further. Third, it sometimes confuses people who are talking about the ERA, or the Equal Rights Amendment, a vestige of the era of political feminism.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

era ERA eras

Before Guardiola there were only two managers who had ever overseen successful title defences in the Premier League era - Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and Jose Mourinho at Chelsea.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

“We are very much squarely in the era of the $20 cocktail,” he said.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

California’s most severe measles epidemic in recent memory occurred between 1988 and 1990 — an era before health officials recommended children receive a second dose of the measles vaccine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

Now their country, which is lower than sea level, finds itself, in an era of global warming, facing a dilemma: how to retain water while protecting themselves from it?

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Indeed, Kepler gave the printing press a prominent place in the frontispiece to the Rudolphine tables, which celebrated the progress of astronomy from the ancient world to the modern era.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Skenes has posted a 5.47 ERA over his past 10 starts, and the Pirates have won just three of the last 16 games he has started.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

They posted a 4.89 ERA last season, ranking 28th.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Klein had a 2.29 ERA one week into July.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

Their starting staff already entered Sunday with the best ERA in the major leagues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Impressed by this extraordinarily bad ERA, I diffidently informed my teacher, who told me to explain the fact to my class.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

But somewhere between the “you go, girl” and #MeToo eras emerged a dishonesty around how we discuss women’s bodies.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026

It is 1958, nine years since Dennis first entered the Great When, an alternate metropolis where the city’s historical eras flow past one another in “an exotic carnival of moments.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

“Just as railroads, electric grids, and the Internet reshaped prior economic eras, we believe SpaceX is building the foundational platform for the next generation of industrial capacity,” he wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

These periods span parts of the Stone Age and early metalworking eras, thousands of years before modern civilization.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026

A Pentagon official named Mort Halperin took charge of forming teams to study the various eras of American involvement in Vietnam, dating back to 1945.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• age
• cycle
• day
• generation
• stage
• term
• time