Miocene
//ˈmaɪəsiːn// adj, name
adj, name ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Of a geologic epoch within the Neogene period from about 23 to 5.3 million years ago; marked by the drift of continents to their present position. not-comparable
Proper Noun
- 1 The Miocene epoch.
Synonyms
All synonymsEtymology
From Ancient Greek μείων (meíōn, “less”) + καινός (kainós, “new”). Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1831 for Charles Lyell, who introduced it in 1833 in his book Principles of Geology. By surface analysis, meio- + -cene.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.