Mycenaean

[mahy-si-nee-uh n]

adjective

of or relating to the ancient city of Mycenae.
denoting or pertaining to the ancient civilization at Mycenae, dating from c2000 to c1100 b.c.

noun

Also called Mycenaean Greek. the earliest recorded Greek dialect, written in the Linear B syllabary and dating from the 15th through the 13th centuries b.c.

Origin of Mycenaean

First recorded in 1590–1600; Mycenae + -an

Related formspre-My·ce·nae·an, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mycenaean

Historical Examples of mycenaean

Its derivations from the Minoan and Mycenaean columns seems most improbable.
The Legacy of Greece
Various
Don dropped into an armchair and began to load his pipe from the Mycenaean vase.
The Orchard of Tears
Sax Rohmer
Their style takes on itself an almost bizarre freedom, which reminds us strongly of the similar characteristic in Mycenaean art.
History Of Egypt, Chalda, Syria, Babylonia, And Assyria In The Light Of Recent Discovery
L.W. King and H.R. Hall
Mycenaean tombs and other antiquities have been found (see Cyprus).
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 2
Various
Lead, in fact, was perfectly familiar to the Mycenaean prime.
Homer and His Age
Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for mycenaean

Mycenaean

adjective

of or relating to ancient Mycenae or its inhabitants
of or relating to the Aegean civilization of Mycenae (1400 to 1100 bc)

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 mycenaean

Mycenaean

1590s, "pertaining to Mycenae," the ancient city on the Argive plain, from Latin Mycenaeus, from Greek Mykenaios "of Mycenae," from Mykenai. In reference to the Aegean civilization that flourished 1500-1100 B.C.E. and was centered on Mycenae, it is from 1890s.