era

/ˈɛrə/

/ˈɛrə/

Other forms: eras

An era is a period of time distinguished by a particular character. “It was the Eisenhower era, when people were more willing to serve in the military.”

Era has a couple of great things about it. First, it is used whenever you talk about dinosaurs to describe the various geologic time periods, for instance the Paleozoic Era, or the Jurassic Era. Second, it is a word beloved of crossword puzzle editors, so if you’re looking for a three-letter word for an age, look no further. Third, it sometimes confuses people who are talking about the ERA, or the Equal Rights Amendment, a vestige of the era of political feminism.

Definitions of era

1. noun

   a period marked by distinctive character or reckoned from a fixed point or event
   synonyms: epoch

   examples:

   Caliphate

   the era of Islam's ascendancy from the death of Mohammed until the 13th century; some Moslems still maintain that the Moslem world must always have a calif as head of the community

   Christian era

   the time period beginning with the supposed year of Christ's birth

   types:

   day

   an era of existence or influence

   age, historic period

   an era of history having some distinctive feature

   modern era

   the present or recent times

   antiquity

   the historic period preceding the Middle Ages in Europe

   golden age

   any period (sometimes imaginary) of great peace and prosperity and happiness

   digital age, information age

   a period beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century when information became easily accessible through publications and through the manipulation of information by computers and computer networks

   Jazz Age

   the 1920s in the United States characterized in the novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald as a period of wealth, youthful exuberance, and carefree hedonism

   reign

   the period during which a monarch is sovereign

   turn of the century

   the period from about ten years before to ten years after a new century

   type of:

   period, period of time, time period

   an amount of time
2. noun

   a major division of geological time; an era is usually divided into two or more periods
   synonyms: geological era

   examples:

   Age of Mammals

   approximately the last 63 million years

   Age of Reptiles

   the era of geologic time from about 252 to 66 million years ago; the second Phanerozoic era

   Paleozoic era

   the era of geologic time from about 541 to 252 million years ago; the first Phanerozoic era

   type of:

   geologic time, geological time

   the time of the physical formation and development of the earth (especially prior to human history)