epoch
nounUK /ˈiːpɒk/
US /ˈepək/
A very long period of time in history.
The dinosaurs lived in an epoch long before people existed.
RELATED WORDS
OTHER MEANINGS
2. A fixed point in time from which years are counted, like the start of a calendar.
The computer counts seconds from a starting epoch in 1970.
3. A moment that marks the beginning of something new and important.
The invention of the internet marked a new epoch in communication.
4. A division of geological time smaller than a period.
The Holocene is the geological epoch we live in now.