epoch
noun
Simple meaning
A notable event which marks the beginning of such a period.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehpuhkSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɛpək
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A notable event which marks the beginning of such a period.
A particular period of history, or of a person's life, especially one considered noteworthy or remarkable.
chronologyastronomycomputing
A specific instant in time, chosen as the point of reference or zero value of a system that involves identifying instants of time.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A notable event which marks the beginning of such a period.
Used this way, epoch is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Any period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface.
Approximately the last 10,000 years.
From 25 million to 13 million years ago.
From 40 million to 25 million years ago.
From 63 million to 58 million years ago.
From two million to 11 thousand years ago.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: notable event which marks the beginning of such a period
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “epoch” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.