Pliocene

//ˈplaɪəsiːn// adj, name

adj, name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a geologic epoch within the Neogene period from about 5.3 to 1.7 million years ago; marked by the appearance of humanity's first ancestors. not-comparable

    "[I]n a final sentence he expressed his conviction that his opponents "did not in truth represent the thought of the twentieth century, but might rather be regarded as mental fossils dug from some early Pliocene horizon "."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The Pliocene epoch.

Synonyms

All synonyms
periodpliocene epochtime

Example

More examples

"[I]n a final sentence he expressed his conviction that his opponents "did not in truth represent the thought of the twentieth century, but might rather be regarded as mental fossils dug from some early Pliocene horizon "."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πλείων (pleíōn, “more”) + καινός (kainós, “new”). Coined by English philosopher and historian of science William Whewell in 1831 for Charles Lyell, who introduced it in 1833 in his book Principles of Geology. By surface analysis, pleio- + -cene.

Related phrases

Pliocene Ridge

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.