epoch
gb/ˈɛpək/ us/ˈɛpək/
C1
English
~ 26200
korszak, éra, földtörténeti kor, kor, epoch, referencia-időpont, tanítási ciklus, epocha, vonatkoztatási időpont
NOUN
C1
FORMAL
1
Usage pattern:
an epoch in [history / someone's life]
The invention of the internet marked a new epoch in human communication.
Az internet feltalálása új korszakot nyitott az emberi kommunikációban.
Historians see the collapse of the Soviet Union as the end of an epoch in European politics.
A történészek a Szovjetunió összeomlását egy korszak végének tekintik az európai politikában.
Her move abroad was an epoch in her life that changed her outlook completely.
The book explores an epoch of rapid industrial growth and social upheaval.
We are living in an epoch defined by digital technology and global connectivity.
Learner examples
The birth of their first child was a new epoch in their life.
Első gyermekük születése új korszakot jelentett az életükben.
Some people say we are in an epoch of fast change.
Vannak, akik azt mondják, hogy a gyors változások korszakában élünk.
The fall of the old king began a different epoch in that country.
This film shows an important epoch in the city’s history.
The war created a dark epoch for many families.
Common mistake:
Learners often use 'epoch' in everyday conversation where 'time' or 'period' sounds more natural; 'epoch' is usually used in more formal or serious contexts (history, big life changes). It is also sometimes confused with 'epic' (which describes something grand or heroic) or mispronounced as /ˈiː.pɒk/ instead of /ˈep.ək/.
Meaning
distinct historical or personal period
Collocations
a new epoch
|an epoch in history
|the modern epoch
|in this epoch
|an epoch in his life
|an epoch of change
Synonyms
era (More common and slightly less formal; often interchangeable, but 'epoch' can sound more weighty or grand.)
|
age (Can sound broader or looser (e.g. 'the age of steam'); 'epoch' suggests a more clearly defined period.)
|
period (Very general and neutral; lacks the sense of importance or distinctiveness that 'epoch' often has.)
Antonyms
moment (Refers to a very short point in time, contrasting with the long stretches of time suggested by 'epoch'.)
Themes
history
|society
|culture
|time
|core_vocabulary
Definition
A long, clear period of time in history or in a person's life, often with special or important events.
A long, clearly defined period of time in history or in a person's life, often marked by particular characteristics or important changes.
NOUN
C1
TECHNICAL
2
kor
C1
Usage pattern:
[the X] epoch
Climate scientists argue that human activity has effectively created a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene.
Az éghajlatkutatók szerint az emberi tevékenység gyakorlatilag egy új földtörténeti kort, az antropocént hozta létre.
The Holocene epoch began approximately 11,700 years ago after the last major ice age.
A holocén kor körülbelül 11 700 évvel ezelőtt kezdődött, az utolsó nagy jégkorszak után.
Many large mammals went extinct at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.
These rock layers were formed during the same geological epoch.
Fossil evidence helps geologists distinguish one epoch from another within a single period.
Learner examples
The dinosaurs lived in a different epoch from humans.
A dinoszauruszok egy másik földtörténeti korban éltek, mint az emberek.
Scientists say we may be in a new epoch because of climate change.
A tudósok szerint lehet, hogy a klímaváltozás miatt egy új földtörténeti korban vagyunk.
This fossil is from the Holocene epoch.
Geologists divide Earth’s history into eras, periods, and epochs.
Many animal types changed between one epoch and the next.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes treat 'epoch', 'era', and 'period' as interchangeable in scientific contexts. In geology they have specific sizes and positions in the time scale, so they should not be swapped when talking about formal geological names.
Meaning
geological time subdivision
Collocations
the Holocene epoch
|the Pleistocene epoch
|the Jurassic epoch (informal)
|during this epoch
|throughout the epoch
|geological epoch
Synonyms
geological epoch (A more explicit term that makes clear the technical, scientific context.)
|
era (Sometimes used loosely in popular writing, but in formal geology it refers to a much larger span than an epoch.)
Themes
science
|geology
|earth
|nature
Definition
In geology, a named part of Earth’s history, smaller than a period and bigger than an age.
In geology, a formally defined division of geological time that is smaller than a period and larger than an age.
NOUN
C1
TECHNICAL
3
epoch
C1
Usage pattern:
the [Unix/system] epoch
Unix time stores dates as the number of seconds since the Unix epoch.
A Unix-idő a dátumokat a Unix-epoch óta eltelt másodpercek számaként tárolja.
If the system clock is set before the epoch, some timestamps may appear as negative values.
Ha a rendszeróra az epoch elé van állítva, egyes időbélyegek negatív értékként jelenhetnek meg.
The library converts human-readable dates into milliseconds from the epoch.
This bug only appears when the timestamp is close to the epoch.
On many platforms, the epoch is defined as midnight UTC on January 1, 1970.
Learner examples
In Unix systems, the epoch is January 1, 1970.
Unix rendszerekben az epoch 1970. január 1-je.
The program shows the number of seconds since the epoch.
A program az epoch óta eltelt másodpercek számát mutatja.
The database saves each date as time from the epoch.
If the clock is before the epoch, the time value can be wrong.
We use the same epoch on all servers to avoid errors.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse this technical meaning with the general historical sense and try to say things like 'the epoch of computers' when they really mean 'era'. In programming, 'epoch' almost always refers to a specific reference time used for timestamps.
Meaning
reference start time in computing
Collocations
the Unix epoch
|seconds since the epoch
|time since the epoch
|system epoch time
|epoch timestamp
|Unix epoch time
Synonyms
reference time (General term for any base time point; 'epoch' is the standard technical word in many systems.)
|
zero time (Informal way programmers sometimes refer to the epoch as the point from which counting starts.)
Themes
technology
|computing
|time
Definition
In computing, a fixed date and time that computers use as a starting point to count time.
In computing, a fixed starting point in time from which time values are measured or calculated, such as the Unix epoch of January 1, 1970.
NOUN
C1
TECHNICAL
4
epoch
C1
Usage pattern:
[train] for [number] epochs
The model started to overfit after about 30 epochs of training.
A modell nagyjából 30 epoch után kezdett túlilleszkedni.
We saved a checkpoint at the end of each epoch to track performance.
Minden epoch végén mentettünk egy checkpointot, hogy nyomon kövessük a teljesítményt.
Validation accuracy improved rapidly during the first few epochs, then leveled off.
Training for more epochs did not significantly reduce the loss.
They compared the model’s accuracy at the tenth epoch across different architectures.
Learner examples
The model trains for 20 epochs.
A modellt 20 epochon keresztül tanítjuk.
After each epoch, we check the test score.
Minden epoch után ellenőrizzük a teszteredményt.
In the first epoch, the loss is usually high.
The accuracy gets better after many epochs.
We stop training when the last epoch shows no improvement.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes think 'epoch' and 'iteration' always mean the same thing in machine learning. In many libraries, an epoch is one full pass through the dataset, while an iteration may refer to a smaller update step, such as one batch.
Meaning
full pass through training data
Collocations
train for 10 epochs
|after several epochs
|epoch number
|validation loss per epoch
|complete an epoch
|epoch-based training
Synonyms
training pass (Informal description of the same idea; less standard as a technical term than 'epoch'.)
|
iteration (More general term for a repeated step; in some frameworks, several iterations make up one epoch.)
Themes
technology
|computing
|education
|science
Definition
In machine learning, one epoch is when the model sees all training examples one time.
In machine learning and similar iterative training methods, a single complete pass through the entire training dataset by the learning algorithm.
NOUN
C2
TECHNICAL
5
epocha
C2
Usage pattern:
[orbital elements] at epoch [date/time]
The star catalog lists positions reduced to the standard epoch J2000.0.
A csillagkatalógus a szabványos J2000.0 epochára átszámított pozíciókat ad meg.
Orbital elements are usually given for a specific epoch to account for gradual changes over time.
A pályaelemeket általában egy adott epochára adják meg, hogy figyelembe vegyék az idő múlásával bekövetkező fokozatos változásokat.
You must specify the epoch when entering coordinates into the software, or the telescope may point slightly off target.
These values are valid only near the epoch provided by the observatory.
Because of precession, the same coordinates refer to different points on the sky at different epochs.
Learner examples
Astronomers give star positions for a standard epoch.
A csillagászok egy szabványos epochára adják meg a csillagok helyzetét.
The software asks for the epoch of your data.
A szoftver rákérdez az adataid epochájára.
Planet orbits slowly change, so we must say the epoch.
These numbers are correct only near that epoch.
The catalog uses J2000.0 as its epoch.
Common mistake:
Learners may confuse this sense with the computing 'epoch' and think they both always refer to 1970. In astronomy, the epoch is any chosen reference date, commonly something like J2000.0, and is not fixed across all systems.
Meaning
astronomical reference date and time
Collocations
coordinates at epoch J2000.0
|orbital elements at epoch
|epoch of observation
|position at the chosen epoch
|epoch reference frame
|precessed to the epoch
Synonyms
reference date (General description; 'epoch' is the precise technical term in astronomical data.)
Themes
science
|astronomy
|space
Definition
In astronomy, a fixed date and time used as a starting point to describe where a planet or star is in the sky.
In astronomy, a specific reference date and time for which the position or orbital elements of a celestial body are calculated.
Grammar
Dictionary form
epoch
IPA
GB/ˈɛpək/
US/ˈɛpək/
Syllables & stress
epoch (1 syllable)
Stress on 1st syllable (epoch)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: epoch
- Plural: epochs
Word family
Expressions
No expressions linked to this entry yet.