The Age of Exploration
Etymology
“Exploration” is from Latin “explorare” (“to search out”); the common alternative label, “Age of Discovery,” draws on Old French “descovrir” (“to uncover”). That “discovery” framing is increasingly questioned, since the lands supposedly discovered were already inhabited — the naming quietly reflects a European vantage point.
noun phrase · /ayj uv ek-splor-AY-shun/
The period from the 15th to 17th centuries when European powers sailed to map, trade with, and colonize much of the world.
What it names
The seafaring surge that connected the continents and set the stage for the modern global order — and for centuries of conquest.
Example
The compass and the caravel were the twin technologies that made the Age of Exploration possible.
Related idea
Distinguish it from colonialism, the system of domination and settlement these voyages set in motion; exploration names the seafaring phase, colonialism the lasting exploitation.