noun

epoch

EP-uhk/ˈepək/

A significant period in history or development.

The Industrial Revolution marks a new epoch in manufacturing and trade.

Three clearly separated views of the same riverside town across history, with the central steam-industrial period emphasized as a distinct interval between an earlier agrarian settlement and a later modern city.

Etymology

Holding a position supplied the idea of a pause or fixed point in time. The word then extended from a point marking a new beginning to the historical period itself.

In context

CrashCourse1:19

So this is now called the Carboniferous Period. See what they did there? Because Coal is made out of carbon, so they named the epoch of geological history over how face-meltingly intense and productive these forests were.

Plant Cells: Crash Course Biology #6

More examples

The museum explores an epoch of rapid scientific discovery.
Her paintings reflect the political tensions of that epoch.
The course compares major epochs in the development of Western music.

Forms

epoch · epochs

epochal adjective — Marking a significant period or change.

Similar words

era: Often names a period defined by particular events or conditions.
age: Often names a broad period by its dominant characteristic.
period: A general time span, without necessarily implying historical significance.