Prehistoric
/prˌihɪˈstɔrɪk/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjOf or relating to the epoch before written record.
adjAncient; very old, outdated, etc.
Sentence Examples
Prehistoric men were skilled in knapping.
Prehistoric figurines have been interpreted in many different ways.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cave contained ____ paintings of animals that lived long before humans.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The museum displayed ____ tools made from flint that were over ten thousand years old.
Word Origin & History
From pre- (“before”) + historic, q.v., similar to slightly earlier ante-historic.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Was it then in a pre-historic time that the Romans wandered into these lands?"
— 1832 October, Foreign Quarterly Review, page 369:
"The cartoon image of prehistoric woman being dragged by the hair by her caveman-husband probably conditions the perceptions of archaeologists far more than they realize."
— 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 137:
"Your idea of a woman is some one who gets on a chair and shrieks if she sees a mouse. That’s all prehistoric."
— 1923, Agatha Christie, The Murder on the Links:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The cave contained ____ paintings of animals that lived long before humans.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The museum displayed ____ tools made from flint that were over ten thousand years old.