- the period in European history from about a.d. 476 to about 1000.
- the whole of the Middle Ages, from about a.d. 476 to the Renaissance.
- a period or stage marked by repressiveness, a lack of enlightenment or advanced knowledge, etc.
- the period from about the late 5th century ad to about 1000 ad, once considered an unenlightened period
- (occasionally) the whole medieval period
