prehistory
Americannoun
-
prehistories
plural
-
human history in the period before recorded events, known mainly through archaeological discoveries, study, research, etc.; history of prehistoric humans.
-
a history of the events or incidents leading to a crisis, situation, or the like.
noun
-
the prehistoric period
-
the study of this period, relying entirely on archaeological evidence
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of prehistory
Explanation
Prehistory refers to the period of time before civilization and writing. We don't know a lot about prehistory. Since pre means "before," and history is the record of human events, prehistory refers to the time before human civilization developed and started writing things down. Scientists often speculate about what happened in prehistory, which is also known as prehistoric times. When did spoken language develop? What was the first tool? What were families like? Scientists study fossils and artifacts to help them theorize about prehistory, because people weren’t writing things down during that time.
Vocabulary lists containing prehistory
The Origins of Civilization, Lessons 1–2
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Stone Age - Middle School and High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
It describes several overlapping anxieties about modern restaurant food, but its prehistory belongs, at least partly, to the ghost kitchen.
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
National Geographic is already imagining the “Romeos” of prehistory.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 7, 2026
Rejecting science and his British masters, Tomás vows to record the true history and prehistory of his region as an act of “honour and resistance.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
A cave hidden beneath an 11th Century castle in Pembrokeshire is a "truly remarkable site" which could rewrite Britain's prehistory, researchers say.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
Different peoples acquired food production at different times in prehistory.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The study “talks about prehistories of Indigenous people in the Pacific, but then it jumps to present-day, and it doesn’t say anything about what happens in between,” Arvin says.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 29, 2022
In either case, of the five habitable continents, North America and South America are the ones with the shortest human prehistories.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
