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What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 6:08 pm
by Chris Corbyn
So epoch means the time at which something starts. What's the equivalent terms for the time at which something ends? This is something which merely piqued my curiosity whilst trying to define an "end time" config in a project at work... they'd already defined the start time as "epoch" so I was looking for the inverse. As it is I've switched the config names to starttime and endtime, but I'm still curious

Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:14 pm
by Weirdan
thesauruses does not provide any antonyms to 'epoch' (in the sense of a reference date). Though in the sense of "era" that would be "start of the epoch" and "end of the epoch".
Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:20 pm
by Chris Corbyn
Ah, I guess you could define an epoch as a timeframe rather than a set instance in time. That makes sense. Apparently I'm thinking about things too much lately

Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:46 am
by Mordred
This reminds me of how in the HHGTTG the universe ends with a gib gnab - the opposite of a big bang
Since in most cultures people use some event to start a new "epoch", we can't define beforehand how it will it end - I think there are exceptions with the mayas and such who had calendars based on "cycles". Anyway, there is no "end of an epoch" in that sense - only a start of a new one.
Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:50 am
by Ollie Saunders
Cool thread. I enjoyed that.
Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 9:58 am
by pickle
"Apocalypse" sounds equivalently massive & bigger than life as "epoch".
Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:03 am
by Mordred
"
Eschaton" might be less christianocentric. Also, it aliterates(*) nicely with "
Epoch"
(*) not an actual verb I think, but hey, English is flexible

Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 11:22 am
by Jenk
Epoch is a fixed point in time, not necessarily the start. So because of this, it has no opposite.
Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:42 pm
by Mordred
Jenk wrote:So because of this, it has no opposite.
Ha, let's see what you'll be saying at the Unix Eschaton on January 19th, 2038.
Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 2:48 pm
by Christopher
It is interesting that there is no specific word for the end of an epoch. Probably because epoch means a period of time defined by some starting event that defines that period, so the end of every epoch is inevitably the event that starts the next epoch.

Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:28 am
by Jenk
Mordred wrote:Jenk wrote:So because of this, it has no opposite.
Ha, let's see what you'll be saying at the Unix Eschaton on January 19th, 2038.
Hmm.. I'm not sure the return of Jesus has anything to do with Unix, nor does a British Metal Album, nor does a north American Blogger.

Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:32 am
by Jenk
arborint wrote:It is interesting that there is no specific word for the end of an epoch. Probably because epoch means a period of time defined by some starting event that defines that period, so the end of every epoch is inevitably the event that starts the next epoch.

Epoch is a synonym for "A Moment in time." That is why Epoch has nothing to do with "Start" but it has everything to do with "The time at which 'x' occurred." be that the time at which 'x' began, or 'x' ended.

Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:40 am
by Maugrim_The_Reaper
An epoch is a period of time in most cases The best interpretation is probably the duration of a specific event. For example World War II is an epoch whose length is defined by the start of and end of the war. Same goes for many other period such as species evolution (e.g. Jurassic period), geological period, etc.
The single point definition is generally just the beginning of an epoch. It's not incorrect to say both definitions are equally possible and valid since both interpretations are linked by one singular event or sequence of events which gave cause to some singular effect.
Re: What's the opposite of "epoch"?
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 11:31 am
by Christopher
I think the distinction is that epoch is the period of time effected or defined by an event -- not the event itself. For example, if you defined a WWII epoch (not sure it is one) it might be from the rise of the Nazis to the start of the Cold War. It is a timeframe defined by fascism. But, for example, many connect WWI and WWII as a single war dealing with instability of the Great Powers after the Colonial Period. That epoch would span from the end of the British Empire to rise of the USSR and US as superpowers. That ends with the breakup of the USSR, and now we are an epoch defined by ...