Holocene
Americanadjective
noun
adjective
noun
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The more recent of the two epochs of the Quaternary Period, beginning at the end of the last major Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. It is characterized by the development of human civilizations.
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Also called Recent
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See Chart at geologic time
Etymology
Origin of Holocene
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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.
By analyzing ancient sediment layers from lakes on K'gari, located off Queensland's south eastern coast, scientists uncovered signs of a major drying period about 7,500 years ago during the middle Holocene.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 2, 2026
Global temperatures rose, the early Holocene began, and human communities gradually shifted toward more permanent settlements.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 2, 2025
This timing in the Late Holocene period lines up with broader climatic shifts in the region, the researchers noted, coming around the same time as low-magnitude fires became more commonplace in the landscape.
From Science Daily ● May 21, 2024
To determine how current assemblages at the study site compared with the Late Holocene assemblages, they collected live coral abundance data along the same 16 transects in the summer and fall of 2018.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 28, 2024
In the meantime, we remain in the Holocene epoch, which started at the end of the last ice age, some 11,700 years ago.
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2024
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.
