era

plural eras · alternative archaic aera · alternative archaic æra

1. A time period of indeterminate length, generally more than one year.

   Even in an era when individuality in dress is a cult, his clothes were noticeable. He was wearing a hard hat of the low round kind favoured by hunting men, and with it a black duffle-coat lined with white.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 6, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   1 more example

   In an era when political leaders promise deliverance from decline through America’s purported preeminence in scientific research, the news that science is in deep trouble in the United States has been as unwelcome as a diagnosis of leukemia following the loss of health insurance.

   2012 January 28, Philip E. Mirowski, “Harms to Health from the Pursuit of Profits”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2012, page 87

2. geographyA geochronologic unit of tens to hundreds of millions of years; a subdivision of an eon, and subdivided into periods.
3. informalAn indefinite period of time in one’s life characterized by a particular interest.

plural ERAs

1. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of Earth rotation angle (the rotation of the Earth from the Celestial Intermediate Origin that has no instantaneous motion along the equator.)
2. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableball gamesInitialism of earned run average, a baseball statistic.

   Taylor, listed at 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds, went 0-1 with a 1.01 ERA in 15 games for Birmingham. He struck out 37 in 26 2/3 innings.

   2025 June 11, “White Sox pitching prospect Grant Taylor makes jump from Double-A to perfect major league debut”, in Associated Press, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2025

3. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablebusinessInitialism of electrically reconfigurable array.
4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablegovernmentInitialism of explosive reactive armor.
5. UKabbreviationcountableinitialismuncountablegovernmentInitialism of engine room artificer, a Royal Navy position.

1. European UnionabbreviationinitialismrailwaysInitialism of European Railway Agency, called today the European Union Agency for Railways.
2. USabbreviationinitialismgovernmentInitialism of Equal Rights Amendment, a proposed amendment to the US Constitution.

   ERA meant the equality of women, to those who urgently sought it, to those who abhorred it, and to those who found it obvious if not entirely redundant.

   1983, Catharine A. MacKinnon, “Excerpts from MacKinnon/Schlafly Debate”, in Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality, volume 1, number 2

   1 more example

   This Article argues that Congress can recognize the ERA as part of the Constitution despite the expiration of the ratification deadline in 1982. But Congress should not do so until there is no doubt that thirty-eight states have ratified the ERA.

   2019 September 30, Gerard N. Magliocca, “BURIED ALIVE: THE REBOOT OF THE EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT”, in RUTGERS UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW, volume 71, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2025, page 634

3. abbreviationinitialismInitialism of Employment Rights Act.