This Age and that Age

[mayapuppies]

So how long is an "Age" anyway? I get the decade, century, millenium, and I know an Era is pretty flexible. But is there a commonly accepted time frame for an Age?

[tkdguy]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

I'd consider an Age to be flexible, just like an era. I'd classify an era in relation to a ruler (eg the Victorian Era) and an age in regard to a period where a doctrine or practice was prevalent (eg the Age of Enlightenment). Keep in mind this is just my opinion. Here's an article that may help you.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_time_periods

[LordGhee]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

the stone age followed by the bronze age.

 

in tolkien the first age ending with the rising of the Sun for the first time.

 

age of soldiers kings, age of empires,age of sail, age of steam, nuclear age, age of man

 

age of legends, age of dreams (thanks terry g)

 

The Age of Hero's . . . . . .

[mayapuppies]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

Hmm, well that makes it a bit interesting. It seems Eon is flexible as well. Dirkfingblasted. Anyone know what 100,000 years is called?

[tm80401]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

So how long is an "Age" anyway? I get the decade' date=' century, millenium, and I know an Era is pretty flexible. But is there a commonly accepted time frame for an Age?[/quote']

 

'Age' and 'Era' both tend to be event driven. Something happens that changes the world significantly, and we move into a new 'Age'.

[Barwickian]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

Hmm' date=' well that makes it a bit interesting. It seems Eon is flexible as well. Dirkfingblasted. Anyone know what 100,000 years is called?[/quote']

 

Oooh, me, me, I can help you with that one!

 

It's called 100,000 years.

[Curufea]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

Well, a millenium is a thousand years. You could express it as a hundred millenia.

[keithcurtis]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

An age is less than an era, yet more than an epoch.

 

But seroiusly folks, here's something I came across:

Age n. 1. the length of time during which a being or thing has existed. 2. any period of human life regarded as having specific characteristics or as involving certain privileges or responsibilities. 3. the latter period of a natural term of existence. 4. the influences operating on the body and mind during this period. 5. the life expectancy of an average being of some kind: The age of thr horse is from 25 to 30 years. 6. a distinctive period of history; era. 7. the contemporary world: What is the spirit of the age? 8. the world contemporary to any person: a novel portraying Shelley against the background of his age. 9. an indefineitely long time. 10. Psychol. the level of mental' date=' emotional, or educational development of an individual. 11. Geol. a. a period of the history of the earth distinguished by some special feature: Ice Age. b. a period during which one particular stage of rock formation takes place: shorter than an epoch. 12. of age, Law. being any of several ages, usually 21 or 18, at which certain legal rights, as voting, marraige, etc., are acquired. -v.t. 13. to grow old. 14. to mature, as wine, cheese, wood, etc. -v.i. 15. to make old; cause to grow or seem old. 16. to cause or allow to stand until transformations have taken place; mature: to age wine. [ME < OF aage, eage < VL *aet&aacuteticum < L ae(vi)t&aacutet- (s. of ae(vi)t&aacutes = aev(ium) lifetime [akin to AY1) + -it&aacutet- -ITY + -icum neut. of -icus -IC'] -Syn. 6. Age, Era, Epoch, Period all refer to an extent of time. Age usually implies a considerable extent of time, esp. one associated with a dominant personality, influence, characteristic, or institution: the age of chivalry. Era and Epoch are often used interchangeable, but an Era is an extent of time Characterized by changed conditions and new undertakings: an era of invention. An Epoch is properly the beginning of an era: an epoch of armed aggression. A period may be long or short, but usually has a marked condition or feature: the glacial period; a period of expansion. 14. ripen. -Ant. 3. youth.

 

-age, a formal element meaning "pertaining to," occurring in loan words from French [language; voyage]; used also as a noun-forming suffix to stems of native origin [frutage; bondage; postage].

 

[urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]

 

Keith "with the goo-goo-googly browser" Curtis

[LordGhee]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

An age discribs a period which has one defining trait, In fantasy hero terms this could mean mulitpul discriptions.

 

the Frist age = the time of the dark = the age of legends

The 2nd age = The age of dreams = the age of hero's

 

tolkein first age was before and ended with the great battle and Morgoth being cast out and the rising of the sun and moon 9major event that change the world)

2nd age was 3441 years and ended with the lopping off of the one ring and the death of the last High elf king.

3rd age was 3019 years and ended with the ring in Mt doom and the leaving of the ringbears from middle earth

 

 

examples from out history

 

dark ages (410 AD after the fall of the roman empire

Middle ages 1066? start and end at the fall of Byzantium in 1450

 

of course human history is only 5000 years old.

[mayapuppies]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

You guys are great, thank you very much!

[keithcurtis]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

You can also define an age by a prevailing technology:

The Stone Age

The Bronze Age

The Iron Age

The Industrial Age

The Information Age

 

In some of the later cases, "era" is sometimes used.

 

Keith "words is fun!" Curtis

[tm80401]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

An age is less than an era, yet more than an epoch.

 

But seroiusly folks, here's something I came across:

 

 

Keith "with the goo-goo-googly browser" Curtis

 

Your google-fu is great, my son.

[LordGhee]

Re: This Age and that Age

 

from dictonay.com

 

e·on also ae·on ( P ) Pronunciation Key (n, n)

n.

An indefinitely long period of time; an age.

The longest division of geologic time, containing two or more eras

 

 

 

eon

 

n 1: the longest division of geological time [syn: aeon] 2: an immeasurably long period of time [syn: aeon] 3: (Gnosticism) a divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe [syn: aeon]

 

e·ra ( P ) Pronunciation Key (îr, r)

n.

A period of time as reckoned from a specific date serving as the basis of its chronological system.

 

A period of time characterized by particular circumstances, events, or personages: the Colonial era of U.S. history; the Reagan era.

A point that marks the beginning of such a period of time. See Synonyms at period.

The longest division of geologic time, made up of one or more periods.

pe·ri·od ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pîr-d)

n.

An interval of time characterized by the occurrence of a certain condition, event, or phenomenon: a period of economic prosperity.

An interval of time characterized by the prevalence of a specified culture, ideology, or technology: artifacts of the pre-Columbian period.

An interval regarded as a distinct evolutionary or developmental phase: Picasso's early career is divided into his blue period and rose period.

Geology. A unit of time, longer than an epoch and shorter than an era.

Any of various arbitrary units of time, especially:

Any of the divisions of the academic day.

Sports & Games. A division of the playing time of a game.

Physics & Astronomy. The time interval between two successive occurrences of a recurrent event or phases of an event; a cycle: the period of a satellite's orbit.

An instance or occurrence of menstruation.

A point or portion of time at which something is ended; a completion or conclusion.

The full pause at the end of a spoken sentence.

A punctuation mark ( . ) indicating a full stop, placed at the end of declarative sentences and other statements thought to be complete, and after many abbreviations.

A sentence of several carefully balanced clauses in formal writing.

 

A metrical unit of quantitative verse consisting of two or more cola.

An analogous unit or division of classical Greek or Latin prose.

Music. A group of two or more phrases within a composition, often made up of 8 or 16 measures and terminating with a cadence.

Mathematics.

The least interval in the range of the independent variable of a periodic function of a real variable in which all possible values of the dependent variable are assumed.

A group of digits separated by commas in a written number.

The number of digits that repeat in a repeating decimal. For example, 1/7 = 0.142857142857... has a six-digit period.

Chemistry. A sequence of elements arranged in order of increasing atomic number and forming one of the horizontal rows in the periodic table.

 

adj.

Of, belonging to, or representing a certain historical age or time: a period piece; period furniture.

 

interj.

Used to emphasize finality, as when expressing a decision or an opinion: You're not going to the movies tonight, period!

 

 

ep·och ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pk, pk)

n.

 

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

A notable event that marks the beginning of such a period. See Synonyms at period.

A unit of geologic time that is a division of a period.

Astronomy. An instant in time that is arbitrarily selected as a point of reference.

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Medieval Latin epocha, measure of time, from Greek epokh, a point in time. See segh- in Indo-European Roots.]

 

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Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

 

 

Epoch

 

n 1: 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

 

 

age ( P ) Pronunciation Key (j)

n.

The length of time that one has existed; duration of life: 23 years of age.

The time of life when a person becomes qualified to assume certain civil and personal rights and responsibilities, usually at 18 or 21 years; legal age: under age; of age.

One of the stages of life: the age of adolescence; at an awkward age.

The state of being old; old age: hair white with age.

often Age

A period in the history of humankind marked by a distinctive characteristic or achievement: the Stone Age; the computer age.

A period in the history of the earth, usually shorter than an epoch: the Ice Age.

A period of time marked by the presence or influence of a dominant figure: the Elizabethan Age. See Synonyms at period.

 

The period of history during which a person lives: a product of his age.

A generation: ages yet unborn.

ages Informal. An extended period of time: left ages ago.

 

All from dictionary.com

 

 

Eon-Era-period-epoch

 

Age seems to equal Period and epoch.