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

Derived Forms

• premodernism
  noun
• premodernist
  noun
• premodernity
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• premoderns
  plural

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

premodern

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

Whether they were pilgrims, refugees, merchants, or soldiers traveling great distances in the premodern world, people on the move brought with them both the goods and traditions of their homelands.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

In premodern times, he writes, pain was considered a transcendent experience, inextricable from spiritual ecstasy.

From Salon ● May 15, 2022

Saying that ancient foragers were probably animists is like saying that premodern agriculturists were mostly theists.

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