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epoch
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
epoch
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
new
▪ The primacy of monuments and monolithic sculpture in the new Communist epoch was acknowledged and debated.
▪ Their own tingling flesh convinced them that a whole new epoch in history was beginning and they were already living in it.
▪ Then, a new epoch of history is born which sweeps away the social relationships of the old order.
▪ A new historical epoch is created by the development of superior forces of production by a new social group.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The Russian Revolution marked the beginning of a new epoch in history.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Already that seemed a distant epoch.
▪ Evolutionary psychologists say that there are human universals which were laid down in the pleistocene epoch.
▪ I have, in my mind, retold my life, epoch by epoch.
▪ People stand out likewise, in so far as their work marks an epoch or sums up an historical episode.
▪ Their own tingling flesh convinced them that a whole new epoch in history was beginning and they were already living in it.
▪ They are slaves to the prejudices of the epoch in which they were written.
▪ This epoch was to pass, after Adams's presidency, into similar backgrounds and were very closely interrelated.
▪ Universal concepts denote phenomena which are presumed to occur universally, regardless of historical epoch or type of society.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Epoch

Epoch \Ep"och\ ([e^]p"[o^]k or [=e]"p[o^]k; 277), n. [LL. epocha, Gr. 'epochh` check, stop, an epoch of a star, an historical epoch, fr. 'epe`chein to hold on, check; 'epi` upon + 'e`chein to have, hold; akin to Skr. sah to overpower, Goth. sigis victory, AS. sigor, sige, G. sieg: cf. F.

  1. 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.

    In divers ages, . . . divers epochs of time were used.
    --Usher.

    Great epochs and crises in the kingdom of God.
    --Trench.

    The acquittal of the bishops was not the only event which makes the 30th of June, 1688, a great epoch in history.
    --Macaulay.

    Note: Epochs mark the beginning of new historical periods, and dates are often numbered from them.

  2. 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. ``So vast an epoch of time.''
    --F. Harrison.

    The influence of Chaucer continued to live even during the dreary interval which separates from one another two important epochs of our literary history.
    --A. W. Ward.

  3. (Geol.) A division of time characterized by the prevalence of similar conditions of the earth; commonly a minor division or part of a period.

    The long geological epoch which stored up the vast coal measures.
    --J. C. Shairp.

  4. (Astron.)

    1. The date at which a planet or comet has a longitude or position.

    2. 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.

      Syn: Era; time; date; period; age.

      Usage: Epoch, Era. We speak of the era of the Reformation, when we think of it as a period, during which a new order of things prevailed; so also, the era of good feeling, etc. Had we been thinking of the time as marked by certain great events, or as a period in which great results were effected, we should have called the times when these events happened epochs, and the whole period an epoch.

      The capture of Constantinople is an epoch in the history of Mahometanism; but the flight of Mahomet is its era.
      --C. J. Smith. [1913 Webster] ||

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
epoch

1610s, epocha, "point marking the start of a new period in time" (such as the founding of Rome, the birth of Christ, the Hegira), from Medieval Latin epocha, from Greek epokhe "stoppage, fixed point of time," from epekhein "to pause, take up a position," from epi "on" (see epi-) + ekhein "to hold" (see scheme (n.)). Transferred sense of "a period of time" is 1620s; geological usage (not a precise measurement) is from 1802.

Wiktionary
epoch

n. A particular period of history, especially one considered remarkable or noteworthy.

WordNet
epoch
  1. n. a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event [syn: era]

  2. (astronomy) the precise date that is the point of reference for which information (as coordinates of a celestial body) is referred [syn: date of reference]

  3. a unit of geological time

Wikipedia
Epoch

An Epoch, epoch or EPOCH may refer to:

Epoch (comics)

Epoch, in comics, may refer to:

  • Epoch (DC Comics), a DC Comics time-traveling character
  • Epoch (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics character, the offspring of Eon
  • Epoch (Top Cow/Heroes and Villains), a comic series about a super-natural tournament featuring main character Jonah Wright
Epoch (film)

Epoch is a 2001 science fiction film directed by Matt Codd, starring David Keith, Stephanie Niznik, Brian Thompson, and Shannon Lee. In it, a strange monolith is discovered, and the team sent to study it encounters repeated disasters.

Epoch (anthology)

Epoch is an anthology of science fiction stories edited by Roger Elwood and Robert Silverberg, issued in hardcover by Berkley Putnam in 1975 and in paperback by Berkley in 1977.

Epoch (reference date)

In the fields of chronology and periodization, an epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular era. The "epoch" then serves as a reference point from which time is measured. Time measurement units are counted from the epoch so that the date and time of events can be specified unambiguously.

Events taking place before the epoch can be dated by counting negatively from the epoch, though in pragmatic periodization practice, epochs are defined for the past, and another epoch is used to start the next era, therefore serving as the ending of the older preceding era. The whole purpose and criteria of such definitions are to clarify and co-ordinate scholarship about a period, at times, across disciplines.

Epochs are generally chosen to be convenient or significant by a consensus of the time scale's initial users, or by authoritarian fiat. The epoch moment or date is usually defined by a specific clear event, condition, or criterion — the epoch event or epoch criterion — from which the period or era or age is usually characterized or described.

Epoch (astronomy)

In astronomy, an epoch is a moment in time used as a reference point for some time-varying astronomical quantity, such as the celestial coordinates or elliptical orbital elements of a celestial body, because these are subject to perturbations and vary with time. These time-varying astronomical quantities might include, for example, the mean longitude or mean anomaly of a body, the node of its orbit relative to a reference plane, the direction of the apogee or aphelion of its orbit, or the size of the major axis of its orbit.

The main use of astronomical quantities specified in this way is to calculate other relevant parameters of motion, in order to predict future positions and velocities. The applied tools of the disciplines of celestial mechanics or its subfield orbital mechanics (for predicting orbital paths and positions for bodies in motion under the gravitational effects of other bodies) can be used to generate an ephemeris, a table of values giving the positions and velocities of astronomical objects in the sky at a given time or times.

Astronomical quantities can be specified in any of several ways, for example, as a polynomial function of the time-interval, with an epoch as a temporal point of origin (this is a common current way of using an epoch). Alternatively, the time-varying astronomical quantity can be expressed as a constant, equal to the measure that it had at the epoch, leaving its variation over time to be specified in some other way—for example, by a table, as was common during the 17th and 18th centuries.

The word epoch was often used in a different way in older astronomical literature, e.g. during the 18th century, in connection with astronomical tables. At that time, it was customary to denote as "epochs", not the standard date and time of origin for time-varying astronomical quantities, but rather the values at that date and time of those time-varying quantities themselves. In accordance with that alternative historical usage, an expression such as 'correcting the epochs' would refer to the adjustment, usually by a small amount, of the values of the tabulated astronomical quantities applicable to a fixed standard date and time of reference (and not, as might be expected from current usage, to a change from one date and time of reference to a different date and time).

Epoch (geology)

In geochronology, an epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale that is longer than an age and shorter than a period. We are currently living in the Holocene Epoch of the Quaternary Period. Rock layers deposited during an epoch are called a series. Series are subdivisions of the stratigraphic column that, like epochs, are subdivisions of the geologic timescale. Like other geochronological divisions, epochs are normally separated by significant changes in the rock layers to which they correspond.

Epochs are most commonly used for the younger Cenozoic Era, where a greater collection of fossils has been found and paleontologists have more detailed knowledge of the events that occurred during those times. They are less commonly referred to for the other eras and eons, since less fossil evidence exists that allows us to form a clearer view of those time periods.

Epoch (Russian magazine)

Epoch was a Russian literary magazine published in 1864-65 by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his brother Mikhail.

Epoch (Top Cow)

Epoch is a joint comic book venture of Top Cow Productions and Heroes and Villains Entertainment.

Epoch (DC Comics)

Epoch, also known as The Lord of Time, is a comic book fictional character published by DC Comics. He first appeared in Justice League of America #10 (March 1962) and was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Mike Sekowsky.

A powerful being from the year 3786, the Lord of Time attacks the Justice League of America, using his chrono-cube to peel back the fourth-dimensional veil of time. Since his initial defeat by the JLA, this fugitive from the future learned to move laterally and diagonally through history, accessing armies and armaments spanning millions of years. He desires to conquer space and time. To make sure his bid to rule all reality is successful, he is capable of eliminating the JLA's ancestors, erasing them from existence. At some point, the Lord of Time created a frozen moment in history called Timepoint, and he will eventually evolve into a being known as Epoch who desires to master the timestream, changing events to grant him power.

Epoch seemingly died in the JLA/ WildC.A.T.s crossover. However, he recently returned, once again as the Lord of Time, in the The Brave and the Bold series. Epoch also made an appearance in the Justice League of America 80-Page Giant #1 comic (November 2009), where he battled the JLA and tossed all the superheroes back in time.

Epoch (American magazine)

Epoch is a triannual American literary magazine founded in 1947 and published by Cornell University. It has published well-known authors and award-winning work including stories reprinted in The Best American Short Stories series and poems later included in The Best American Poetry series. It publishes fiction, poetry, essays, graphic art, and sometimes cartoons and screenplays, but no literary criticism or book reviews.

Epoch is staffed by faculty and graduate students from the English Department creative writing program, and edited by Michael Koch. Epoch appears in September, January, and May, with issues generally running 128 to 160 pages.

EPOCH (chemotherapy)

EPOCH is an intensive chemotherapy regimen intended for treatment of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

It is often combined with rituximab. In this case it is called R-EPOCH or EPOCH-R.

[R]-EPOCH regimen consists of:

  1. (R)ituximab: an anti- CD20 monoclonal antibody, which has the ability to kill B cells, be they normal or malignant;
  2. (E)toposide: a topoisomerase inhibitor from the group of epipodofyllotoxins;
  3. (P)rednisolone: a glucocorticoid hormone that can cause apoptosis and lysis of both normal and malignant lymphocytes;
  4. (O)ncovin, also known as vincristine: a vinca alkaloid that binds to the protein tubulin, thereby preventing the formation of microtubules and mitosis;
  5. (C)yclophosphamide: an alkylating antineoplastic agent;
  6. (H)ydroxydaunorubicin, also known as doxorubicin: an anthracycline antibiotic that is able to intercalate DNA, damaging it and preventing the cell division.

Usage examples of "epoch".

I have extensive experience in paleontology, especially in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic Eras, in particular the Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and the recent epochs of the Pliocene and Pleistocene.

Christmas is upon you, with its conventions of peace and good will, you will find yourself in for a glacial epoch of cold, unforgiving hostility, with an occasional Etna flare of open warfare.

But the difficulty of understanding the absence of vast piles of fossiliferous strata, which on my theory no doubt were somewhere accumulated before the Silurian epoch, is very great.

On the edge of the plateau stands Barbe Barber, the Institute of Medical Meditation, an elaborate and ancient building in the grand fifty-first epoch manner, as fugal as Angkor Wat, as uncompromising as the Lunar Enterventual.

I cannot, however, help noticing how extraordinary it is, and how this epoch of ours differs from all bygone epochs in having no philosophical nor religious worshippers of the ragged godship of poverty.

Familiarly, these two characters were known as Louie the Grift and Side-face Sam and they represented what might have been termed in better circles a renaissance of the gangster epoch in American history.

The floor was all of bricks, and as it had been renewed at various epochs with bricks of divers colours it formed a kind of mosaic, not very pleasant to look upon.

It is only in this latter epoch that the perfect sky-ground correlation is attained, at the heliacal rising of Leo, when the Sphinx would have gazed directly at his own celestial counterpart in the pre-dawn.

The formidable, provisional vegetations of the primary epoch, the chaotic and immature monsters of the secondary grounds--Plesiosaurus, Ichthyosaurus, Pterodactyl--these might also regard themselves as vain and ephemeral attempts, ridiculous experiments of a still puerile nature, and conceive that they would leave no mark upon a more harmonious globe.

It often happens, however, during the first critical epoch, which is isochronal with the technical educational period of a girl, that after a few occasions of catamenial hemorrhage, moderate perhaps but still hemorrhage, which are not heeded, the conservative force of Nature steps in, and saves the blood by arresting the function.

I returned to my headquarters feeling lower than Lake Kiboko in an epoch of protracted drought.

As all the living forms of life are the lineal descendants of those which lived long before the Silurian epoch, we may feel certain that the ordinary succession by generation has never once been broken, and that no cataclysm has desolated the whole world.

Instead of the lineal extraction of the complicated scheme out of one cell, there has been, from epoch to epoch, the simultaneous production of all included in one of its sections.

One thing had been decided by them in council, that was, to make this great epoch in their renationalization to synchronize with their New Year, which would properly fall the next month, on October 2nd, to be correct.

The inference is, therefore, that they were all the property of this Nicholas de la Reynie, who was, as I understand, the gentleman specially concerned with the maintenance and execution of the Draconic laws of that epoch.