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• Iron Age
  Iron Age

  noun

  the period in the history of humankind, following the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, marked by the use of implements and weapons made of iron.
• iron age
  iron age

  noun

  classical myth the last and worst age in the history of the world

Iron Age

American  

noun

1. the period in the history of humankind, following the Stone Age and the Bronze Age, marked by the use of implements and weapons made of iron.

2. (lowercase) the present age, following the bronze age; the last and worst of the four ages of the human race, characterized by danger, corruption, and toil.

3. (lowercase) any age or period of degeneracy or wickedness.

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Iron Age ¹ British  

noun

1. 1. the period following the Bronze Age characterized by the extremely rapid spread of iron tools and weapons, which began in the Middle East about 1100 _bc

   2. ( as modifier )

      an Iron-Age weapon

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iron age ² British  

noun

1. classical myth the last and worst age in the history of the world

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Iron Age Scientific  

1. The period in cultural development succeeding the Bronze Age in Asia, Europe, and Africa, characterized by the introduction of iron metallurgy. In southeastern Europe and the Middle East the beginning of the Iron Age is generally dated to around 1200 bce, with later dates for other parts of Europe and the other continents. Although not as hard or durable as bronze, iron is a more abundant resource, and the Iron Age saw a rapid expansion of metalworking wherever the technology was introduced.

2. See Note at Three Age system

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Iron Age Cultural  

1. The period of history, succeeding the Bronze Age, when people first learned to extract iron from ore and use it to forge tools, weapons, and other objects. The first organized production of iron objects developed in southwestern Asia shortly after 2000 b.c.

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Etymology

Origin of Iron Age

First recorded in 1585–95

Compare meaning

How does iron-age compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• Bronze Age vs. Iron Age

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Iron Age iron age

Subtitled “The Women of the Viking World,” Jóhanna Katrín Friðriksdóttir’s study illuminates the reality of the female experience in late Iron Age Scandinavia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

The Harvard Art Museums offer a comprehensive survey of the Celtic aesthetic—full of sinuous and sophisticated abstract forms—from the Iron Age into the Middle Ages and beyond.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

The composition matched a copper-zinc-tin-lead alloy characteristic of the Iron Age and later periods.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 23, 2025

There have been human settlements on Shuna, one of the Slate Islands, for at least 4,500 years, evidenced by Stone and Iron Age burial mounds and ruined farms and houses.

From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2025

It remains for us to consider the encounters of New Guinea’s and Australia’s Stone Age societies with Iron Age Europeans.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

York city centre, Birkenhead Park and an iron age settlement in Shetland are among the locations being put forward by the government to join the prestigious list.

From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2023

The discovery suggests that after the bronze age and the iron age, we're now entering the age of plastic.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2019

Yet the form of warfare he now pursues is further from these relics than Napoleon was from the swords and spears of the iron age.

From The Guardian ● Jan. 16, 2016

Silbury Hill is an iron age manmade hill, and the long barrow is almost in its shadow – the whole area is full of these ancient pre-Christian sites.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 8, 2011

The iron age, when justice and honour had left the earth.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1 A to Amide by Various