prehistoric
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to the time or a period prior to recorded history.
The dinosaur is a prehistoric beast.
-
Slang. outdated; passé.
My mom has these prehistoric ideas about proper dress.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prehistoric
Explanation
If while hiking, you see strange painting on a cliff, it may be rock art from prehistoric times, meaning something from the time before history was recorded. When you break down the word prehistoric, it’s easy to figure out what it means. The prefix pre-, means “before” and historic relates to something from a past culture. Put the two together, and you get prehistoric, a word that describes something that comes from a time before history was recorded. For example, Stonehenge is a prehistoric site, or the woolly mammoth is a prehistoric beast.
Vocabulary lists containing prehistoric
World Without Fish
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Earth Science - Middle School
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Earth Science: Geology
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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.
The wound is thought to be the first evidence for use of sharpened wooden spears in the prehistoric Middle East, according to Pomeroy.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
These experiments allowed the scientists to investigate whether birch tar made through different prehistoric techniques would have similar antibacterial properties.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
Remarkably, the antibacterial activity appeared regardless of which prehistoric extraction technique the researchers used.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
"Our findings show that it might be worthwhile to examine targeted antibiotics from ethnographic contexts - or, as in this case, from prehistoric contexts - in greater depth," concludes Siemssen.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
I mean, maybe they were, like, really advanced prehistoric peoples.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
