prehistory

[pree-his-tuh-ree, -his-tree]

noun

plural

prehistories 

1. human history in the period before recorded events, known mainly through archaeological discoveries, study, research, etc.; history of prehistoric humans.

2. a history of the events or incidents leading to a crisis, situation, or the like.

Other Word Forms

• prehistorian noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of prehistory¹

First recorded in 1870–75; pre- + history

Example Sentences

Readers young and old will be treated to a host of information, from established details to new discoveries, from prehistory to the present.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

What made Europe’s fascination with its own origins, its “deep prehistory,” an opening to global modernity?

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Al-Shamahi takes her story up to the invention of writing, where prehistory may be said to end.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"This is yet more fascinating evidence for Stonehenge's link with south-west Wales, where its bluestones come from," said Michael Parker Pearson, professor of British later prehistory at University College London.

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A spokesperson said the discoveries had helped shed light on how the caves were used by those who lived and farmed in the Dales prehistory.

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Related Words

• account 
• annals 
• biography 
• record 
• relation 
• story 
• tale