What does "pleistocene" mean?

Of a geologic epoch within the Quaternary period from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago (earlier definition 1.7 million to 11,000 years ago); marked by the evolution of man, and the extinction of the large mammals.

What is a synonym for "pleistocene"?

Common synonyms include: glacial epoch, period, pleistocene epoch, time.

How do you pronounce "pleistocene"?

Pronounced //ˈplaɪstəˌsiːn//.

Pleistocene

//ˈplaɪstəˌsiːn// adj, name

adj, name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective

1
Of a geologic epoch within the Quaternary period from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago (earlier definition 1.7 million to 11,000 years ago); marked by the evolution of man, and the extinction of the large mammals. not-comparable

Proper Noun

1
The Pleistocene epoch.
"A prehistoric site of late Pleistocene age, which was especially prepared for our visit, was seen at Ting-ts'un, above the Fen River (Shansi)."

Synonyms

All synonyms

glacial epoch period pleistocene epoch time

Example

More examples

"In the Pleistocene the Sunda Platform, which today underlies the Java Sea, was dry land."

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πλεῖστος (pleîstos, “most”) and καινός (kainós, “new”), meaning “newest”, coined by Charles Lyell in 1839. By surface analysis, containing the suffix -cene.

Related phrases

Plio-Pleistocene

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