Wordul · all words

noun · 2 syllables · /ˈɛp.ək/

EPOCH

What does "EPOCH" mean?

A long, distinct period of time marked by notable events or characteristics.

Meanings

  1. A particular period of history or of a person's life seen as significant. The fall of the wall opened a new epoch in Europe.
  2. A subdivision of geologic time, smaller than a period and larger than an age. We live in the Holocene epoch. technical
  3. A fixed reference moment from which time is measured, especially in astronomy or computing. Unix time counts the seconds since the epoch in 1970. technical

Did you know?

  • Most of the world's computers secretly agree on a single birthday: the 'Unix epoch' of midnight on 1 January 1970, from which they count every second since.

Word origin

From Greek 'epokhe' (a pause, a fixed point), from 'epekhein' (to hold back), built from 'epi-' (upon) plus 'ekhein' (to hold).

Remember it

EPOCH sounds like 'EP-ick' - epic stretches of time, held at a fixed point.

A little poem

A line drawn in time-
before it, an old country;
after, a new one.

haiku

Wordplay

  • Why is a computer's whole sense of history a little sad? Every moment it knows is just counted from one cold midnight in 1970.

What it teaches

We only name an epoch once it ends; you are always living in an age too close to see.

Quick facts

What does EPOCH mean?

A long, distinct period of time marked by notable events or characteristics.

Is EPOCH a valid word?

Yes — EPOCH is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is EPOCH?

EPOCH has 5 letters and 2 syllables.

Where does EPOCH come from?

From Greek 'epokhe' (a pause, a fixed point), from 'epekhein' (to hold back), built from 'epi-' (upon) plus 'ekhein' (to hold).

What can EPOCH teach us?

We only name an epoch once it ends; you are always living in an age too close to see.

How players do

Be the first to solve it.

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