Pleistocene

See also: pleistocene, Pléistocène, and pléistocène

English

Alternative forms

• (abbreviation) Ps

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πλεῖστος (pleîstos, “most”) and καινός (kainós, “new”), meaning “newest”, coined by Charles Lyell in 1839.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈplaɪstəˌsiːn/, /-toʊ-/

  • Audio (Southern England):

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• Audio (US):

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Adjective

Pleistocene (not comparable)

1. (geology) Of a geologic epoch within the Quaternary period from about 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago (earlier definition 1.7 million to 11,000 years ago); marked by the evolution of man, and the extinction of the large mammals.

Translations

of the Pleistocene epoch

• Finnish: pleistoseenikautinen
• French: Pléistocène (fr)
• Georgian: პლეისტოცენური (ṗleisṭocenuri)
• German: pleistozänisch
• Greek: πλειστόκαινος (el) (pleistókainos)
• Italian: pleistocene (it) m
• Polish: plejstoceński (pl)

Proper noun

Pleistocene

1. (geology) The Pleistocene epoch.
   • 1977, F. Clark Howell, “Introduction”, in Paleoanthropology in the People's Republic of China‎^[1], →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 3:

     A prehistoric site of late Pleistocene age, which was especially prepared for our visit, was seen at Ting-ts'un, above the Fen River (Shansi).

   • 2017, Anthony J. McMichael, Alistair Woodward, Cameron Muir, Climate Change and the Health of Nations, →ISBN, page 89:

     Throughout the Pleistocene, climatic changes exerted another type of selective pressure on human biological evolution, contributing to the rapid emergence of various Homo species over time.

Translations

(geology) the Pleistocene epoch

• Catalan: plistocè m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 更新世 (zh) (Gēngxīnshì)

• Czech: pleistocén m
• Esperanto: plejstoceno
• Estonian: pleistotseen
• Finnish: pleistoseenikausi
• Georgian: პლეისტოცენი (ṗleisṭoceni), პლეისტოცენის ეპოქა (ṗleisṭocenis eṗoka)
• German: Pleistozän (de) n, Eiszeitalter (de) n
• Greek: Πλειστόκαινο n (Pleistókaino)
• Italian: Pleistocene (it)
• Navajo: nahasdzáán tingo siʼánę́ędą́ą́ʼ
• Polish: plejstocen (pl) m inan

See also

• Appendix:Geologic timescale

Further reading

• Pleistocene on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “Pleistocene”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.