-cenesuff. Recent. Used in names of geological periods: Oligocene.[From Greek kainos, new; see ken- in Indo-European roots.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.-cene adj combining form, n combining form (Geological Science) denoting a recent geological period: Miocene. [from Greek kainos new]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014-cene a combining form used in the names of the geologic epochs that comprise the Cenozoic era: Pleistocene. [