Zeitalter

Zeitalter is a German noun meaning "age" or "era" that designates a relatively long period in history, culture, or science characterized by distinctive features, developments, or events. In everyday language and historiography, it is used to frame thematic segments such as das Zeitalter der Aufklärung or das industrielle Zeitalter.

Etymology: from Middle High German Zeitalter; composed of Zeit (time) and Alter (age).

In historical and literary contexts, Zeitalter often carries evaluative nuance, e.g., to emphasize progress, decline, or transition, and appears in phrases describing broad shifts rather than precise dates.

In geology and earth science, Zeitalter is a technical term that can translate epoch; it denotes subdivisions within a geologic period. In German texts Epoche is typically used in modern geology, though Zeitalter appears in some sources and older literature. Notable examples include the Pleistozän (Pleistocene) and Holozän (Holocene) as epochs of the Quartär/Quaternary period.

In culture and media, the noun appears in titles and discourse about imagined or historical eras.

See also: era, epoch, period, age.