Eocene

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   relating to the geological epoch from about 56 to 34 million years ago, between the Paleocene and Oligocene

   The museum displayed fossils recovered from Eocene rock layers.

2. 2
   noun

   the geological epoch from about 56 to 34 million years ago

   Many modern mammal groups diversified during the Eocene.

Coined in 1831 from Greek eos, 'dawn,' + kainos, 'new, recent,' literally 'dawn of the recent.' William Whewell proposed the term for Charles Lyell, referring to the early appearance of forms resembling modern fauna.

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