Epoch
['iːpɒk;'epɒk] or ['ɛpək]
Definition
(noun.) a unit of geological time that is a subdivision of a period and is itself divided into ages.
(noun.) (astronomy) an arbitrarily fixed date that is the point in time relative to which information (as coordinates of a celestial body) is recorded.
Editor: Nettie--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) 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.
(n.) 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.
(n.) A division of time characterized by the prevalence of similar conditions of the earth; commonly a minor division or part of a period.
(n.) The date at which a planet or comet has a longitude or position.
(n.) 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.
Checked by John
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Period, date, era, age, point or period of time (remarkable for some event).
Inputed by Hahn
Definition
n. a point of time fixed or made remarkable by some great event from which dates are reckoned: a period remarkable for important events: (astron.) the mean heliocentric longitude of a planet in its orbit at any given time.—adjs. Ep′ochal; Ep′och-mā′king.—Make Mark an epoch to begin an important era.
Edited by Laurence
Examples
- They are purging more than the epsom salts in this epoch. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The entrance of the Grants and Crawfords was a favourable epoch. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- Like drama which compresses the tragedy of a lifetime into a unity of time, place, and action, history foreshortens an epoch into an episode. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The Romans, for example, never had needles comparable to those of the Magdalenian epoch. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Its hope is that some man living at one place on the globe in a particular epoch will, through the miracle of genius, be able to generalize his experience for all time and all space. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Nearly all historians are disposed to regard the career of Alexander the Great as marking an epoch in human affairs. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The next important epoch was the invention of Forneyron in 1823, of the water-wheel known as the Turbine and also as the Vortex Wheel. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- The epoch of good clothes for the people, with all that it means in the fight upward from degradation, began in this century, and it was due to the inventions which have been above outlined. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- We will suppose the letters A to L to represent allied genera existing during the Silurian epoch, and descended from some still earlier form. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The above extracts are good illustrations, however, of scientific opinions up to the end of 1879, when Mr. Edison's epoch-making invention rendered them entirely untenable. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- In this same epoch apparatus of precision developed in other fields. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- A child's first sight of a reddleman was an epoch in his life. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- I am blind with crying--I can write no more---- * * * * * * * * * * [The First Epoch of the Story closes here. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- At that epoch, in that single month of June, many a solid fortune was realized. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- At twenty years of age, a selection must be made of the more promising disciples, with whom a new epoch of education will begin. Plato. The Republic.
- For on the theory, such strata must somewhere have been deposited at these ancient and utterly unknown epochs of the world's history. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- He divided his story into six epochs to square with the six days of the Creation story. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- His own aversion to reform, his fondness for vast epochs and his contempt for current effort have left most of his psychological laws in the region of interesting literary comment. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Coal is largely formed from vast masses of vegetable matter deposited through the luxuriant growth of plants in former epochs of the earth’s history. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Still less do we know of the mutual relations of the innumerable inhabitants of the world during the many past geological epochs in its history. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Various epochs of the past have had their own characteristic struggles and interests. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The splendid epochs will be interpreted as monuments of man's creation, not of his propulsion. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- All epochs are determined by economic arrangements. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Each of these great epochs has left behind itself a kind of cultural deposit, like a geologic stratum. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
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