Epoch Meaning
/ˈiːpɒk/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA particular period of history, or of a person's life, especially one considered noteworthy or remarkable.
nounA notable event which marks the beginning of such a period.
Sentence Examples
There have always been fashionable faces and expressions which marked an epoch.
The age of chivalry is the favourite epoch of the romantics.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The invention of the printing press marked a new ____ in history.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The discovery of fire marked a significant ____ in the history of human evolution.
Word Origin & History
From Medieval Latin epocha, from Ancient Greek ἐποχή (epokhḗ, “a check, cessation, stop, pause, epoch of a star, i.e., the point at which it seems to halt after reaching the highest, and generally the place of a star; hence, a historical epoch”), from ἐπέχω (epékhō, “to hold in, check”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, hold”). Doublet of epoche.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"I grew bitter in my words—I believed the worst of everyone; nay, I sometimes doubted the affection of my kind, my indulgent parents. But let me hastily pass over this vain and profitless epoch,—the fierce tempest, and the weary calm, were but the appointed means by which I reached the harbour of faith and rest."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 198:
"And it occasionally happens that a period in which one had, hitherto, been mainly looking for the coming to birth of new things, suddenly reveals itself as an epoch of fading and decay."
— 1924, F. Hopman, transl., The Waning of the Middle Ages, translation of Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen by Johan Huizinga:
"Appendix A gives formulae for the calculation of the orbital elements of the planets at any time referred to the mean ecliptic and equinox of the epoch of noon on 1st January 2000; this is called the J2000 epoch."
— 2000, Carl D. Murray, Stanley F. Dermott, Solar System Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN:
"There are two major epoch times associated with most timestamps: 1970-01-01 00:00:00 and 1601-01-01 00:00:00. The first, starting in 1970, is traditionally referred to as POSIX time as it is a common timestamp in UNIX and UNIX-like systems."
— 2016, Preston Miller, Chapin Bryce, Learning Python for Forensics, Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 281:
"The .NET epoch is midnight at the start of January 1st, AD 1, although that's AD 1 in a proleptic Gregorian calendar, which refers to even more complexity we haven't talked about yet."
— 2022, Tomasz Lelek, Jon Skeet, Software Mistakes and Tradeoffs: How to Make Good Programming Decisions, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 155:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The invention of the printing press marked a new ____ in history.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The discovery of fire marked a significant ____ in the history of human evolution.