Cenozoic
adj, name ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Of or pertaining to the Cenozoic era. not-comparable
- 1 of or relating to or denoting the Cenozoic era wordnet
- 1 A geologic era within the Phanerozoic eon comprising the Paleogene, Neogene and Quaternary periods from about 65 million years ago to the present, when the continents moved to their current position and modern plants and animals evolved.
"The whole history of the earth is divided into five eras, with corresponding rock-systems. These are: 1. Archæan or Eozoic¹ era, embodied in the Laurentian system; 2. Palæozoic² era, embodied in the Palæozoic or Primary system; 3. Mesozoic³ era, recorded in the Secondary system; 4. Cenozoic,⁴ recorded in the Tertiary and Quaternary systems; and, 5. The Psychozoic era, or era of Mind, recorded in the recent system."
Example
More examples"Fossil of plants, invertebrates, vertebrates, and trace fossils have been identified in Yellowstone National Park from more than 40 stratigraphic units spanning more than 540 million years from the Cambrian to the Cenozoic eras."
Etymology
From ceno- + -zoic; from Ancient Greek καινός (kainós, “new”) + ζωή (zōḗ, “life”).
More for "cenozoic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.