Recent

Of the Holocene, particularly pre-21st century.

Adjective

  1. Of the Holocene, particularly pre-21st century.

Origin

As classifier for a geological epoch coinciding with human presence (“Recent era”) introduced by Charles Lyell in 1833.

Proper noun

  1. The Holocene.
    • He [Charles Lyell] ignored Quaternary, a term he never accepted. The Recent addressed the age “tenanted by man,” which at the time barely extended beyond the chronicles of the Bible. - 2012, Lydia Pyne, Stephen J. Pyne,...