pleistocene
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Of a geologic epoch within the Quaternary period from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
plystuhseenSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈplaɪstəsin
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.
adjective
geology
Of a geologic epoch within the Quaternary period from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago (earlier definition 1.7 million to 11,000 years ago); marked by the evolution of man, and the extinction of the large mammals.
noun
geology
The Pleistocene epoch.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of a geologic epoch within the Quaternary period from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago (earlier definition 1.7 million to 11,000 years ago); marked by the evolution of man, and the extinction of the large mammals.
Used this way, pleistocene is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a scientific use: it names something precisely within a field of study, so it appears in research and teaching more than in conversation.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Science
- Academic writing
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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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.
From two million to 11 thousand years ago.
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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.