epoch

Definition

A particular period of history, or of a person's life, especially one considered noteworthy or remarkable.

Etymology

From Medieval Latin epocha, from Ancient Greek ἐποχή (epokhḗ, “a check, cessation, stop, pause, epoch of a star, i.e., the point at which it seems to halt after reaching the highest, and generally the place of a star; hence, a historical epoch”), from ἐπέχω (epékhō, “I hold in, check”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + ἔχω (ékhō, “I have, hold”). Doublet of epoche.

Example Sentences

• "I grew bitter in my words—I believed the worst of everyone; nay, I sometimes doubted the affection of my kind, my indulgent parents. But let me hastily pass over this vain and profitless epoch,—the fierce tempest, and the weary calm, were but the appointed means by which I reached the harbour of faith and rest."
• "And it occasionally happens that a period in which one had, hitherto, been mainly looking for the coming to birth of new things, suddenly reveals itself as an epoch of fading and decay."
• "UNIX epoch; J2000 epoch"