Anthropocene

Meaning

Proper Noun

• The proposed current geological epoch, in which human activities have a powerful effect on the global environment.

Origin

• From a combination of anthropo- + -cene modeled on Holocene, Pleistocene, and similar. First attested in the 1960s in the translations of Russian-language scientific articles, possibly with a different meaning. Supposedly coined independently in the 1980s by and later popularized by Dutch atmospheric chemist Paul J. Crutzen in 2000.