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

premoderns plural

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

So if ports are formed the basis for cities and cities form the basis of small states, at least in the premodern era, then you can see that third pathway from ports to democracy.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2023

Writing and scholarly research were not always well funded in the premodern world, so wealthy patrons, including the caliph himself, provided financial support to scholars capable of completing this work.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

That last statement may seem a little odd, because most of us have a sense that everyone in the premodern world worked really hard.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell