Dictionary.com
definitions

industrial

[in-duhs-tree-uh l]
adjective
  1. of, pertaining to, of the nature of, or resulting from industry: industrial production; industrial waste.
  2. having many and highly developed industries: an industrial nation.
  3. engaged in an industry or industries: industrial workers.
  4. of or relating to the workers in industries: industrial training.
  5. used in industry: industrial diamonds: industrial fabrics.
  6. noting or pertaining to industrial life insurance.
noun
  1. an industrial product: diamonds classed as industrials and nonindustrials.
  2. a company engaged in industrial enterprises.
  3. an employee in some industry, especially a manufacturing industry.
  4. industrials, stocks and bonds of industrial companies.

Origin of industrial

First recorded in 1580–90; industry + -al1
Related formsin·dus·tri·al·ly, adverbin·dus·tri·al·ness, nounnon·in·dus·tri·al, adjectivenon·in·dus·tri·al·ly, adverbpre·in·dus·tri·al, adjectivepro·in·dus·tri·al, adjectivequa·si-in·dus·tri·al, adjectivequa·si-in·dus·tri·al·ly, adverbsem·i-in·dus·tri·al, adjectivesem·i-in·dus·tri·al·ly, adverbun·in·dus·tri·al, adjective
Can be confusedindustrial industrious
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for preindustrial

Historical Examples of preindustrial

  • In the preindustrial Bulgaria of the 1930s, the artisans and peasants together formed the backbone of the economy.

    Area Handbook for Bulgaria

    Eugene K. Keefe, Violeta D. Baluyut, William Giloane, Anne K. Long, James M. Moore, and Neda A. Walpole

British Dictionary definitions for preindustrial

preindustrial

adjective
  1. of or relating to a society, age, etc, before industrialization

industrial

adjective
  1. of, relating to, derived from, or characteristic of industry
  2. employed in industrythe industrial workforce
  3. relating to or concerned with workers in industryindustrial conditions
  4. used in industryindustrial chemicals
Derived Formsindustrially, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for preindustrial

industrial

adj.

1774, from French industriel, from Medieval Latin industrialis, from Latin industria (see industry). Earlier the word had been used in English in a sense "resulting from labor" (1580s); the modern use is considered a reborrowing. Meaning "suitable for industrial use" is from 1904. As a style of dance music, attested from 1988. Industrial revolution was in use by 1840 to refer to recent developments and changes in England and elsewhere.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper