Pelasgian

American  

[puh-laz-jee-uhn, -juhn, -gee-uhn] / pəˈlæz dʒi ən, -dʒən, -gi ən /

adjective

1. of or relating to the Pelasgians.

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noun

1. a member of a prehistoric people inhabiting Greece, Asia Minor, and the islands of the eastern Mediterranean.

Pelasgian British  

/ pɛˈlæzdʒɪən /

noun

1. a member of any of the pre-Hellenic peoples (the Pelasgi ) who inhabited Greece and the islands and coasts of the Aegean Sea before the arrival of the Bronze Age Greeks

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adjective

1. of or relating to these peoples

Etymology

Origin of Pelasgian

1480–90; ≪ Greek Pelásgi ( os ) Pelasgian ( Pelasg ( oí ) Pelasgi + -ios adj. suffix) + -an

Example Sentences

Besides the Achaean Earth-shaking brother of Zeus in Thessaly there seems to be some Pelasgian or Aegean god present in him.

From Five Stages of Greek Religion by Murray, Gilbert

It is probable that her most archaic form survived from the "Pelasgian" clays in remote mountainous regions.

From Myth, Ritual And Religion, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Lang, Andrew

"Pelasgian" may be regarded as equivalent to " pre-historic Greek ".

From Myth, Ritual And Religion, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Lang, Andrew

Ovid, probably reflecting Varro, speaks of the Flamen Dialis as belonging to the Pelasgian religion, which at least means that he was aware of the extreme antiquity of the office; Fasti, ii.

From The Religious Experience of the Roman People From the Earliest Times to the Age of Augustus by Fowler, W. Warde