Meanings
ice age1
nounice age (plural ice ages)
plural ice ages · alternative Ice Age
- sciencesA period of long-term reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence of major polar ice sheets that reach the ocean and calve icebergs.
The earth is currently in the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, an ice age that began 33.9 million years ago with the Antarctic Ice Cap.
- colloquialAny of several glacial periods (within a scientific ice age) marked by episodes of extensive glaciation alternating with episodes of relative warmth (interglacial).
The cause of ice ages, Köppen decided, is to be found in cool summers, not brutal winters.
2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, published 2003, page 377
Ice Age2
nounIce Age (plural Ice Ages)
plural Ice Ages
- Alternative letter-case form of ice age.
[…] and the sloping collection of fractured rocks—known as talus—that tumbled down from the quartzite bluffs during the repeated freezings and unfreezings of the last Ice Age.
2015, Kevin Revolinski, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Madison (page 116)
Synonyms & antonyms
nounany period of time during which glaciers covered a large part of the earth's surface
Similar
glacial periodglacial epoch
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- GermanEiszeit
- Englishice age
Perhaps a calque of German Eiszeit.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans ystydperk, ystydperk
- ystydperkany of several glacial periods
- ystydperkperiod of glaciation at the poles
Arabic عَصْر جَلِيدِيّ, عَصْر جَلِيدِيّ
- عَصْر جَلِيدِيّ (ʕaṣr jalīdiyy)any of several glacial periods
- عَصْر جَلِيدِيّ (ʕaṣr jalīdiyy)period of glaciation at the poles
Basque glaziazio
- glaziazioany of several glacial periods
Bengali হিমযুগ
- হিমযুগ (himojug)any of several glacial periods
Bulgarian ле́дников перио́д, ле́дников перио́д
- ле́дников перио́д (lédnikov periód)any of several glacial periods
- ле́дников перио́д (lédnikov periód)period of glaciation at the poles
Catalan època glacial
- època glacialany of several glacial periods
Chinese Mandarin 冰河時期 /冰河时期, 冰期
- 冰河時期 /冰河时期 (bīnghé shíqī)any of several glacial periods
- 冰期 (bīngqī)any of several glacial periods
- 冰河期 (bīnghéqī)any of several glacial periods
Czech doba ledová
- doba ledováany of several glacial periods
Danish istid
- istidany of several glacial periods
Dutch ijstijd
- ijstijdany of several glacial periods
Esperanto glaciepoko
- glaciepokoany of several glacial periods
Estonian jääaeg
- jääaegany of several glacial periods
Finnish jääkausi
- jääkausiany of several glacial periods
French période glaciaire, glaciation
- période glaciaireany of several glacial periods
- glaciationany of several glacial periods
- englaciationany of several glacial periods
- âge de glaceany of several glacial periods
- âge de glaceperiod of glaciation at the poles
German Eiszeit, Eiszeitalter
- Eiszeitany of several glacial periods
- Eiszeitalterany of several glacial periods
- Glazialany of several glacial periods
- Eiszeitalterperiod of glaciation at the poles
Greek Εποχή των Παγετώνων
- Εποχή των Παγετώνων (Epochí ton Pagetónon)any of several glacial periods
Hebrew עִדַּן קֶרַח \ עידן קרח
- עִדַּן קֶרַח \ עידן קרחany of several glacial periods
Hindi हिमयुग, हिमयुग
- हिमयुग (himyug)any of several glacial periods
- हिमयुग (himyug)period of glaciation at the poles
Hungarian jégkorszak, eljegesedés
- jégkorszakany of several glacial periods
- eljegesedésany of several glacial periods
Icelandic ísöld
- ísöldany of several glacial periods
Indonesian zaman es
- zaman esany of several glacial periods
Irish oighearaois
- oighearaoisany of several glacial periods
Italian era glaciale
- era glacialeany of several glacial periods
Japanese 氷河期, 氷河時代
- 氷河期 (hyōgaki)any of several glacial periods
- 氷河時代 (hyōga jidai)any of several glacial periods
Korean 빙하기, 빙기
- 빙하기 (binghagi)any of several glacial periods
- 빙기 (binggi)any of several glacial periods
- 빙하시대 (binghasidae)any of several glacial periods
Latvian ledus laikmets
- ledus laikmetsany of several glacial periods
Lithuanian ledynmetis
- ledynmetisany of several glacial periods
Malay zaman air batu
- zaman air batuany of several glacial periods
Norwegian Bokmål istid
- istidany of several glacial periods
Polish epoka lodowcowa
- epoka lodowcowaany of several glacial periods
Portuguese era do gelo, era glacial
- era do geloany of several glacial periods
- era glacialany of several glacial periods
- idade do geloany of several glacial periods
- período glacialany of several glacial periods
- idade do geloperiod of glaciation at the poles
- era glacialperiod of glaciation at the poles
Romanian glaciațiune, perioadă glaciară
- glaciațiuneany of several glacial periods
- perioadă glaciarăperiod of glaciation at the poles
- eră glaciarăperiod of glaciation at the poles
- epocă glaciarăperiod of glaciation at the poles
Russian леднико́вый пери́од, обледене́ние
- леднико́вый пери́од (lednikóvyj períod)any of several glacial periods
- обледене́ние (obledenénije)any of several glacial periods
- оледене́ние (oledenénije)any of several glacial periods
Scottish Gaelic Linn na Deighe
- Linn na Deigheany of several glacial periods
Slovak ľadová doba
- ľadová dobaany of several glacial periods
Spanish glaciación, edad de hielo
- glaciaciónany of several glacial periods
- edad de hieloperiod of glaciation at the poles
- evo glacialperiod of glaciation at the poles
- era gélidaperiod of glaciation at the poles
- época álgidaperiod of glaciation at the poles
- periodo heladoperiod of glaciation at the poles
- período arrecidoperiod of glaciation at the poles
Swedish istid, nedisning
- istidany of several glacial periods
- nedisningany of several glacial periods
- istidperiod of glaciation at the poles
Tagalog panahon ng yelo
- panahon ng yeloany of several glacial periods
Tamil பனி யுகம்
- பனி யுகம் (paṉi yukam)any of several glacial periods
Thai ยุคน้ำแข็ง
- ยุคน้ำแข็ง (yúk-nám-kɛ̌ng)any of several glacial periods
Turkish buzul çağı
- buzul çağıany of several glacial periods
Ukrainian льодовико́ва е́ра, льодовико́вий пері́од
- льодовико́ва е́ра (lʹodovykóva éra)any of several glacial periods
- льодовико́вий пері́од (lʹodovykóvyj períod)any of several glacial periods
Urdu بَرْفَانی دَور, بَرْفَانی عَہْد
- بَرْفَانی دَور (barfānī daur)any of several glacial periods
- بَرْفَانی عَہْد (barfānī 'ahd)any of several glacial periods
Vietnamese kỷ băng hà
- kỷ băng hàany of several glacial periods
Welsh Oes yr Iâ
- Oes yr Iâany of several glacial periods
Cite this entry
APA
ice age. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice%20age
MLA
“ice age.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice%20age. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ice age,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ice%20age.
Source: ice age on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.