epochal
Americanadjective
-
of, relating to, or of the nature of an epoch.
-
extremely important, significant, or influential.
Other Word Forms
- epochally adverb
- nonepochal adjective
- preepochal adjective
- unepochal adjective
Etymology
Origin of epochal
Explanation
Epochal describes events so important and significant they have the power to usher in a new epoch. In other words they're "epoch-making." The big bang. The moment when man learned to make fire. The day your braces were removed. These events are epochal in that they mark the dawn of a new era, or epoch, of time. Both epoch and epochal derive from the Latin epocha, which in turn derives from the Greek epekhein, which combines epi "on" with ekhein "to hold," and means to pause or take up a position. Think of epochal events as worthy of an arrow on the timeline of history.
Vocabulary lists containing epochal
This Week in Words: September 8 - 14, 2018
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This Week in Words: December 30, 2017 - January 5, 2018
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The Princess Bride
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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.
These rankings help focus on the fact that what we’re experiencing now is generationally, almost on an epochal level, different.
From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026
Going much further back, oil prices also rocketed during the epochal crisis of World War II in the 1940s.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 20, 2026
From a trade perspective, 2026 would probably go down in history books as an epochal year for India.
From BBC • Feb. 17, 2026
Clearly, we are at the threshold of epochal change.
From Salon • Mar. 7, 2025
Ptolemaeus’s epochal influence has had the effect of making ancient astronomy seem, to us, a lot less diverse than it was.
From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
