EPOCH • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Epoch

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/ˈɛpək/ /ˈipək/ Listen

noun

Epoch n.

1.

A fixed point of time, established in history by the occurrence of some grand or remarkable event; a point of time marked by an event of great subsequent influence; as, the epoch of the creation; the birth of Christ was the epoch which gave rise to the Christian era. "In divers ages,... divers epochs of time were used." "Great epochs and crises in the kingdom of God." "The acquittal of the bishops was not the only event which makes the 30th of June, 1688, a great epoch in history." Note: Epochs mark the beginning of new historical periods, and dates are often numbered from them.

2.

A period of time, longer or shorter, remarkable for events of great subsequent influence; a memorable period; as, the epoch of maritime discovery, or of the Reformation. "So vast an epoch of time." "The influence of Chaucer continued to live even during the dreary interval which separates from one another two important epochs of our literary history."

3.

(Geol.) A division of time characterized by the prevalence of similar conditions of the earth; commonly a minor division or part of a period. "The long geological epoch which stored up the vast coal measures."

4.

(Astron.)

(a)

The date at which a planet or comet has a longitude or position.

(b)

An arbitrary fixed date, for which the elements used in computing the place of a planet, or other heavenly body, at any other date, are given; as, the epoch of Mars; lunar elements for the epoch March 1st, 1860.

Synonyms: Era; time; date; period; age. Epoch, Era. We speak of the era of the Reformation, when we think of it as a period, during which a new order of things prevailed; so also, the era of good feeling, etc. Had we been thinking of the time as marked by certain great events, or as a period in which great results were effected, we should have called the times when these events happened epochs, and the whole period an epoch. "The capture of Constantinople is an epoch in the history of Mahometanism; but the flight of Mahomet is its era."

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Etymology of 'Epoch'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Epoch" Quotes from Famous Books

... unpayable. But the sure years reveal the deep remedial force that underlies all facts. The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminating an epoch of infancy or youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation or a household or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character. It permits or constrains the formation of new acquaintances, and the reception of new influences ...

— The Spinster Book • Myrtle Reed

... mark a new epoch in Roman history. The legions were no longer the levy of the citizens in arms, who were themselves the State for which they fought. The legionaries were citizens still. They had votes, and they used them; but they were professional soldiers with the modes of thought which belong to soldiers, ...

— Caesar: A Sketch • James Anthony Froude

... seemed to be promising entertainment then for both man and beast, when an epoch of disaster came along—a season of cholera. In the villages where Joliet's business lay the doors just beginning to be hospitable were promptly shut against him. Where the good townsmen had recognized Assistance in his ...

— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XII, No. 29. August, 1873. • Various

... day may be assigned to a point near where the Trias is succeeded by the Lias. As the Trias is drawing to its close, the class of reptiles, whose first known appearance belongs to the carboniferous epoch of the third day, begins to show signs of advance. The first true Saurians are found in the Trias: the great development takes place in the Lias and Oolite, while in the chalk large quantities of kindred ...

— The Story of Creation as told by Theology and by Science • T. S. Ackland

... as the Tinkletown Pooh-Bah posed in restful supremacy there were rushing down upon him affairs of the epoch-making kind. Up in the clear, lazy sky a thunderbolt was preparing to hurl itself into the very heart of Tinkletown, and at the very head ...

— The Daughter of Anderson Crow • George Barr McCutcheon

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