prehistory
Americannoun
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prehistories
plural
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human history in the period before recorded events, known mainly through archaeological discoveries, study, research, etc.; history of prehistoric humans.
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a history of the events or incidents leading to a crisis, situation, or the like.
noun
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the prehistoric period
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the study of this period, relying entirely on archaeological evidence
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of prehistory
Explanation
Prehistory refers to the period of time before civilization and writing. We don't know a lot about prehistory. Since pre means "before," and history is the record of human events, prehistory refers to the time before human civilization developed and started writing things down. Scientists often speculate about what happened in prehistory, which is also known as prehistoric times. When did spoken language develop? What was the first tool? What were families like? Scientists study fossils and artifacts to help them theorize about prehistory, because people weren’t writing things down during that time.
Vocabulary lists containing prehistory
The Origins of Civilization, Lessons 1–2
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The Stone Age - Middle School and High School
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Apparently, this sunbathed land was as popular with interlopers in prehistory as it is now, and Portugal still boasts a large share of archaeological evidence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
Overall, the findings suggest that relationships between humans and wolves in prehistory were far more varied than once thought.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 29, 2025
Al-Shamahi takes her story up to the invention of writing, where prehistory may be said to end.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2025
A spokesperson said the discoveries had helped shed light on how the caves were used by those who lived and farmed in the Dales prehistory.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025
Africa’s diverse peoples resulted from its diverse geography and its long prehistory.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The study “talks about prehistories of Indigenous people in the Pacific, but then it jumps to present-day, and it doesn’t say anything about what happens in between,” Arvin says.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 29, 2022
In either case, of the five habitable continents, North America and South America are the ones with the shortest human prehistories.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
