OLIGOCENE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Oligocene mean? 

• OLIGOCENE (noun)
  The noun OLIGOCENE has 1 sense:

1. from 40 million to 25 million years ago; appearance of sabertoothed cats

  Familiarity information: OLIGOCENE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OLIGOCENE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

From 40 million to 25 million years ago; appearance of sabertoothed cats

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

Oligocene; Oligocene epoch

Instance hypernyms:

epoch (a unit of geological time that is a subdivision of a period and is itself divided into ages)

Holonyms ("Oligocene" is a part of...):

Tertiary; Tertiary period (from 63 million to 2 million years ago)

 Context examples 

An epoch of the early Tertiary period, found in-between the Oligocene and the Pliocene eras.

(Miocene epoch, NOAA Paleoclimate Glossary)