noun

epoch

EE-pok

noun

A distinct period of time in history, especially one marked by particular events or characteristics.

"The invention of the printing press ushered in a new epoch of learning."

"Historians call the years after the war a turbulent epoch."

Geology: a division of geological time shorter than a period.

"The Holocene is the current epoch of the geological timescale."

How to Use Epoch

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA significant, well-defined stretch of time — in everyday use, a "new era"; in science, a specific slice of geological or astronomical time.

Common pairings

a new epoch mark an epoch geological epoch

Word Forms

epoched past tense, epochs plural, epochs singular

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The invention of the printing press ushered in a new _____ of learning.

Etymology

From Greek epokhē, "a fixed point in time," from epékhein ("to hold back, pause") — originally used for the starting point from which a span of time is measured.