turn of the century
Centennial calendar pivot
Turn of the century refers to the period around the transition from one century to the next—the years just before and after.
Without qualification, it usually means the shift from the 1800s to the 1900s: turn-of-the-century architecture.
Context determines which century: At the turn of the century, smartphones didn't exist clearly means 2000.
The phrase evokes eras of change and anticipation.
- fin de siècleCentury's closing cultural moment
- millenniumSpan of thousand years
- Victorian eraBritain under its longest-reigning queen
- Gilded AgeLate 1800s American prosperity
- Art NouveauCurvilinear decorative movement, 1890s
Y2K · zeitgeist · cusp · era · age · noughties · aughts · transition · bygone · antique shop · epoch · ragtime · silent film · gas lamp · cobblestone street · threshold · yesteryear · sepia
turn of the centurytimeless
Unaffected by eras
eternal · ahistorical · undated · perennial
turn, turning, turned, century, centuries, turner, centurion, unturned, bicentenary