Word for 'end of an era'?
I'm looking for the correct term for the "end of an era", preferably a single word. Essentially I'm looking for the antonym of epoch.
Google's dictionary defines epoch as
The beginning of a distinctive period in the history of someone or something.
I'm looking for a word that means the following:
The end of a distinctive period in the history of someone or something.
None of my searches have turned up anything.
This is my first question here, please let me know if I'm doing it wrong.
I don't know if this is quite what you're looking for, but two words that came to mind were sunset and twilight. For example:
sunset of the British Empire
or
twilight of the British Empire
While I'd guess that the usage in that specific sense came about due to the "sun never sets..." quote regarding the Empire, it seems like it could fit in a more generic sense.
There's a word that fits, but only if I amend your request a little.
Götterdämmerung is "the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen" and means "the twilight of the gods." (Wikipedia). (Metaphorically speaking, the end of an epoch.)
It has come to mean "A turbulent ending of a regime or an institution." (The Free Dictionary).
The amendment is a slight reordering of "The end of a distinctive period in the history of someone or something" to "The distinctive end in the history of someone or something."
Of course, götterdämmerung only works if something ends with a bang, rather than a whimper. I rather like sunset if it ends quietly.
Author Margaret Mitchell has heroine Scarlett stumble over some German word in Gone with the Wind. (Rhett expresses surprise that Scarlett has even heard of the word.) And the article The American Gotterdammerung begins with
Throughout the book “Gone with the Wind” there is a recurring theme of the Gotterdammerung, a winnowing out of the weak and the strong coming through.
A handful will give you points for a literary reference, but unfortunately, many will think you're uttering a profanity.