recent: Meaning and Definition of

re•cent

1. of late occurrence, appearance, or origin; lately happening, done, made, etc.: recent events; a recent trip.
2. not long past: in recent years.
3. of or belonging to a time not long past.
4. (cap.)noting or pertaining to the present epoch, originating at the end of the glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, and forming the latter half of the Quaternary Period; Holocene. See table under

1. Also called(cap.)the Recent Epoch or Series.