ägedate

ägedate is a fictional dating concept used in speculative fiction and worldbuilding. It defines dates in relation to the age of a civilization or culture, rather than to a fixed absolute year. In an ägedate system, a point is named by the number of years since a defined founding event or the emergence of a cultural epoch, effectively measuring time from the origins of the society rather than from a universal calendar. Some writers pair ägedate with an embedded absolute chronology to aid cross-referencing with other timelines.

Etymology and form: The term is a constructed compound, with elements resembling the word age and the borrowed dating suffix. There is no standardized spelling or grammatical rule for ägedate in real-world literature, and its usage varies across different worldbuilding guides and fan writings.

Variants and usage: Authors use ägedate to emphasize historical depth, collective memory, or radical differences in chronology within a setting. It is often applied alongside a separate event-based or mythic founding date, allowing both age-based and event-based references to coexist. In game design and storytelling, ägedate can signal a civilization’s perceived maturity, decline, or renewal.

Reception and limitations: As a fictional construct, ägedate is not recognized by historians or scholars. Readers may encounter it primarily in dedicated worldbuilding resources or in speculative fiction that explores non-linear or non-Earth-like chronologies. See also: calendars, dating systems, worldbuilding, fictional linguistics.