Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

epoch

/ˈɛp.ək/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.19 in modern English

Syllables: epoch
IPA: /ˈɛp.ək/

12

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

2

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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

noun

A notable event which marks the beginning of such a period.

noun

A specific instant in time, chosen as the point of reference or zero value of a system that involves identifying instants of time.

noun

A geochronologic unit of hundreds of thousands to millions of years; a subdivision of a period, and subdivided into ages (or sometimes subepochs).

noun

One complete presentation of the training data set to an iterative machine learning algorithm.

verb

To divide (data) into segments by time period.

Transitive verb

noun

An intensive chemotherapy regimen for treating aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma, consisting of etoposide, prednisolone, Oncovin (vincristine), cyclophosphamide, and hydroxydaunorubicin.

Uncountable

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."
"We thus reach a position of extreme relativism: different 'truths' may be useful in different historical situations, and it is quite possible that any truth is valid only for a particular epoch or social class."
"UNIX epoch; J2000 epoch"
"Appendix A gives formulae for the calculation of the orbital elements of the planets at any time referred to the mean ecliptic and equinox of the epoch of noon on 1st January 2000; this is called the J2000 epoch."
"There are two major epoch times associated with most timestamps: 1970-01-01 00:00:00 and 1601-01-01 00:00:00. The first, starting in 1970, is traditionally referred to as POSIX time as it is a common timestamp in UNIX and UNIX-like systems."

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, “to hold in, check”), from ἐπι- (epi-, “upon”) + ἔχω (ékhō, “to have, hold”). Doublet of epoche.

Origin

Source language: Ancient Greek

Word Breakdown

Root: epocha, ἐποχή, *seǵʰ-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈɛp.ək/
British English: /ˈiːpɒk/

Usage

Inflected Forms

epochs (plural) epocha (alternative) epochs (present, singular) epoching (participle, present) epoched (participle, past) epoched (past)

Derived Forms

epochful epochism epochmaking epochwise

Phrases

Amazonian epoch Belle Époque epoch-making Genesee epoch habitable epoch Hesperian epoch Noachian epoch Planck epoch

Frequently Paired Words

epochal epoche epoché epochless datum

Synonyms

age era generation date of reference

Homonyms

epic (one pronunciation)

Rhymes With

lepak

Questions

How do you pronounce epoch?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɛp.ək/.
What does epoch mean?: A particular period of history, or of a person's life, especially one considered noteworthy or remarkable.
Where does epoch come from?: It is traced to Ancient Greek.

How to pronounce epoch

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “epoch”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɛp.ək/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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