Precambrian

American  

[pree-kam-bree-uhn, -keym-] / priˈkæm bri ən, -ˈkeɪm- /

Or Pre-Cambrian

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to the earliest era of earth history, ending 570 million years ago, during which the earth's crust formed and life first appeared in the seas.

---

noun

1. the Precambrian Era.

Precambrian British  

/ priːˈkæmbrɪən /

adjective

1. of, denoting, or formed in the earliest geological era, which lasted for about 4 000 000 000 years before the Cambrian period

---

noun

1. the Precambrian era See Archaeozoic Proterozoic

Precambrian Scientific  

/ prē-kăm′brē-ən,-kām′- /

1. The period of geologic time between Hadean Time and the Phanerozoic Eon, from about 3.8 billion to 540 million years ago. During the Precambrian Eon, which is divided into the Archean and Proterozoic, primitive forms of life first appeared on Earth.

2. See Chart at geologic time

---

Etymology

Origin of Precambrian

First recorded in 1860–65; pre- + Cambrian

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Precambrian

The team identified another distinctive chemical fossil in the same Precambrian rocks that is highly likely to have come from living organisms rather than from chemistry alone.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 27, 2026

But it wasn't till the Precambrian extinction 544 million years ago that they burst through their previous limits, generating new species that found new ways to live.

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2025

They argued the cuts would cripple studies of museum collections holding some 5 million items, including a renowned trove of Precambrian fossils.

From Science Magazine ● May 1, 2024

“It’s the Precambrian age,” Stephan Tual, a co-founder of Slock.it, told me.

From The Guardian ● Oct. 17, 2016

He drifted past saguaros and alkali flats, camped beneath escarpments of naked Precambrian stone.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer