Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Era

Era , noun

[Late Latin aera an era, in earlier usage, the items of an account, counters, plural of aes, aeris, brass, money. See Ore.]

1.
A fixed point of time, usually an epoch, from which a series of years is reckoned.
The foundation of Solomon's temple is conjectured by Ideler to have been an era. — R. S. Poole
2.
A period of time reckoned from some particular date or epoch; a succession of years dating from some important event; as, the era of Alexander; the era of Christ, or the Christian era (see under Christian).
The first century of our era. — M. Arnold
3.
A period of time in which a new order of things prevails; a signal stage of history; an epoch.
Painting may truly be said to have opened the new era of culture. — J. A. Symonds