Geochronology

/ˌdʒiːoʊkrəˈnɑːlədʒi/ noun

Definition

The science of determining the age of geological materials and assigning specific dates to events in Earth's history.

Etymology

From geo- (earth) + chronology (from Greek chronos, time + logos, study). Emerged as a rigorous discipline when radioactive dating became available in the early 20th century.

Kelly Says

Geochronology gave us the ability to read the absolute age of rocks instead of just their relative sequence—it's like upgrading from a history book to a history book with exact dates on every page.

Related Words

Explore More Words

Get the Word Orb API

Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.