An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Any method of measuring the age of an event or object in years. For example, in geology, this method can, unlike → relative dating, give us the age of a rock or fossil in x number of years. The most widely used and accepted method of absolute dating is → radioactive dating. See also: → radiocarbon dating, → radiometric dating.

See also: → absolute; → dating.