EON

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does eon mean? 

• EON (noun)
  The noun EON has 3 senses:

1. the longest division of geological time

2. an immeasurably long period of time

3. (Gnosticism) a divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe

  Familiarity information: EON used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The longest division of geological time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

aeon; eon

Hypernyms ("eon" is a kind of...):

geologic time; geological time (the time of the physical formation and development of the earth (especially prior to human history))

Meronyms (parts of "eon"):

era; geological era (a major division of geological time; an era is usually divided into two or more periods)

Instance hyponyms:

Phanerozoic; Phanerozoic aeon; Phanerozoic eon (the period from about 540 million years ago until the present, a period when abundant life existed)

Precambrian; Precambrian aeon; Precambrian eon; Precambrian period (the eon following the Hadean time and preceding the Phanerozoic eon; from about 3,800 million years ago until 544 million years ago)

Proterozoic; Proterozoic aeon; Proterozoic eon (from 2,500 to 544 million years ago; bacteria and fungi; primitive multicellular organisms)

Archaeozoic; Archaeozoic aeon; Archean; Archean aeon; Archean eon; Archeozoic; Archeozoic eon (the time from 3,800 million years to 2,500 million years ago; earth's crust formed; unicellular organisms are earliest forms of life)

Hadean; Hadean aeon; Hadean eon; Hadean time; Priscoan; Priscoan aeon; Priscoan eon (the earliest eon in the history of the Earth from the first accretion of planetary material (around 4,600 million years ago) until the date of the oldest known rocks (about 3,800 million years ago); no evidence of life)

Derivation:

eonian (of or relating to a geological eon (longer than an era))

Sense 2

Meaning:

An immeasurably long period of time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

aeon; eon

Context example:

oh, that happened eons ago

Hypernyms ("eon" is a kind of...):

age; long time; years (a prolonged period of time)

Derivation:

eonian (continuing forever or indefinitely)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(Gnosticism) a divine power or nature emanating from the Supreme Being and playing various roles in the operation of the universe

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

aeon; eon

Hypernyms ("eon" is a kind of...):

spiritual being; supernatural being (an incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events)

Domain category:

Gnosticism (a religious orientation advocating gnosis as the way to release a person's spiritual element; considered heresy by Christian churches)

 Context examples 

Geologic time is broken down into eons, eras, periods and epochs.

(Geologic time scale, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)

Surprisingly, the front has remained extremely sharp over the eons, rather than becoming fuzzy or diffuse.

(Scientists Surprised by Relentless Cosmic Cold Front, NASA)

They were "born" eons before deposits from volcanoes such as Mt. Mazama, which erupted 7,700 years ago to form the Crater Lake caldera.

(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)

Johnson said his work on the project started when he talked with Wing and learned about the well-preserved, 3.2-billion-year-old ocean crust from the Archaean eon (4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago) in a remote part of Western Australia.

(Scientists determine early Earth was a ‘water world’ by studying exposed ocean crust, National Science Foundation)