Epoquetude

Epo·qu·e·tude

noun

Definition: An antidote to crushing anxieties over the deteriorating state of the world, epoquetude is the reassuring awareness that while humanity may succeed in destroying itself, the Earth will certainly survive us, as it has survived many other cataclysms; and that, in the endless chambers of time, the lives of individual species, vast civilizations, and even entire worlds are merely brief notes in an inconceivable symphony, each sounding its distinct voice and then fading out, so that the music may continue.

Usage: As she gazed at the waves crashing to the shore, contemplating the ocean’s four billion years of existence, some of the pain and horror of the unfolding global catastrophe receded, and a sense of epoquetude settled over her.

Origin: Anthony Discenza, California, 2015.

portmanteau of Epoch and Quietus

English usage of Epoch dates from the early 17th century (in the Latin form epocha ; originally in the general sense of a date from which succeeding years are numbered): from modern Latin epocha, from Greek epokhē ‘stoppage, fixed point of time,’ from epekhein ‘stop, take up a position,’ from epi‘upon, near to’ + ekhein ‘stay, be in a certain state.’

and Quietus: latin for quiet

synonym:  Blithencile