premodern

American  

[pree-mahd-ern] / ˌpriˈmɑd ərn /

adjective

1. of or relating to any period before the modern era.

2. of or relating to any present-day culture that has not adopted modern values, technology, etc.

3. (in the arts and philosophy) relating to or characteristic of the period before the dominance of modernism.

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noun

plural

premoderns

1. a person who lived during a period before the modern era.

2. a person whose work in the arts or philosophy is characteristic of the period before the dominance of modernism.

Other Word Forms

• premodernism noun
• premodernist noun
• premodernity noun

Example Sentences

Inevitable are thoughts of ancient Stonehenge, or perhaps primordial cairns marking trails or burial grounds in premodern societies.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2025

This mimamoru approach has its roots in a premodern concept of nature, according to Professor Yosuke Hirota at the Graduate School of Literature and Human Sciences of Osaka Metropolitan University.

From Science Daily • Apr. 22, 2024

Or, put another way, How much premodern evidence is needed to prove a modern theory?

From New York Times • Jul. 1, 2023

Though it appears to separate Africa and Arabia, the Red Sea was in fact a conduit of regular cultural exchange and movement of goods and people throughout the premodern period.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Especially in premodern times, most of the calories feeding an agricultural population came from a single crop—such as wheat, potatoes or rice—that lacks some of the vitamins, minerals and other nutritional materials humans need.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari