Eocene

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Eocene \E"o*cene\, a. [Gr. 'hw`s daybreak, dawn + ? new,
     recent.] (Geol.)
     Pertaining to the first in time of the three subdivisions
     into which the Tertiary formation is divided by geologists,
     and alluding to the approximation in its life to that of the
     present era; as, Eocene deposits. -- n. The Eocene formation.


     --Lyell.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Eocene
       n : from 58 million to 40 million years ago; presence of modern
           mammals [syn: {Eocene epoch}]