eolith

[ee-uh-lith]

noun

a chipped stone of the late Tertiary Period in Europe once thought to have been flaked by humans but now known to be the product of natural, nonhuman agencies.

Origin of eolith

First recorded in 1890–95; eo- + -lith

Related formse·o·lith·ic, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for eolithic

Historical Examples of eolithic

The Eolithic problem has aroused the most animated controversy, in which opinion is divided.
Men of the Old Stone Age
Henry Fairfield Osborn
To the east is the plateau of Kent, in which many flints of Eolithic type have been found.
Men of the Old Stone Age
Henry Fairfield Osborn
In the last place will be mentioned criticism of the distribution of the eolithic type (Obermaier, 1908).
Prehistoric Man
W. L. H. Duckworth
The distribution of the implements finds a weak spot in the defences of the eolithic partisans.
Prehistoric Man
W. L. H. Duckworth
To an earlier and longer epoch belongs the Prepalolithic or Eolithic stage.
Men of the Old Stone Age
Henry Fairfield Osborn

British Dictionary definitions for eolithic

Eolithic

adjective

denoting, relating to, or characteristic of the early part of the Stone Age, characterized by the use of crude stone tools

eolith

noun

a stone, usually crudely broken, used as a primitive tool in Eolithic times

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for eolithic

adj.

1890, from French éolithique (1883), from eo- (see eo-) + French lithique, as in néolithique (see neolithic). Related: eolith (1890).