Meanings
comparative more prehistoric · superlative most prehistoric · alternative pre-historic
- properlyOf or relating to the epoch before written record.
Was it then in a pre-historic time that the Romans wandered into these lands?
1832 October, Foreign Quarterly Review, page 3691 more example
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 137Synonyms: ante-historic
- inexact or humorousAncient; very old, outdated, etc.
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 LinksSynonyms: antediluvian
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf or relating to the epoch before written record.
adjectiveAncient; very old, outdated, etc.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivebelonging to or existing in times before recorded history
adjectiveoutdated
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From pre- (“before”) + historic, q.v., similar to slightly earlier ante-historic.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مَا قَبْلَ التَّارِيخ
- مَا قَبْلَ التَّارِيخ (mā qabla t-tārīḵ)of relating to the epoch before written record
Bengali প্রাগৈতিহাসিক
- প্রাগৈতিহাসিক (pragōitihaśik)of relating to the epoch before written record
Bulgarian предистори́чески
- предистори́чески (predistoríčeski)of relating to the epoch before written record
Catalan prehistòric
- prehistòricof relating to the epoch before written record
Chinese Mandarin 史前的
- 史前的 (shǐqián de)of relating to the epoch before written record
Czech pravěký
- pravěkýof relating to the epoch before written record
Danish forhistorisk
- forhistoriskof relating to the epoch before written record
Dutch prehistorisch
- prehistorischof relating to the epoch before written record
Esperanto prahistoria
- prahistoriaof relating to the epoch before written record
Estonian eelajalooline
- eelajaloolineof relating to the epoch before written record
Finnish esihistoriallinen
- esihistoriallinenof relating to the epoch before written record
French préhistorique, préhistorique
- préhistoriqueof relating to the epoch before written record
- préhistoriqueoutdated
German vorgeschichtlich, vorhistorisch
- vorgeschichtlichof relating to the epoch before written record
- vorhistorischof relating to the epoch before written record
- prähistorischof relating to the epoch before written record
Greek προϊστορικός
- προϊστορικός (proïstorikós)of relating to the epoch before written record
Hebrew פרהיסטורי
- פרהיסטורי (prehistóri)of relating to the epoch before written record
Hindi प्रागैतिहासिक
- प्रागैतिहासिक (prāgaitihāsik)of relating to the epoch before written record
Hungarian történelem előtti
- történelem előttiof relating to the epoch before written record
Icelandic forsögulegur
- forsögulegurof relating to the epoch before written record
Indonesian prasejarah
- prasejarahof relating to the epoch before written record
Italian preistorico
- preistoricoof relating to the epoch before written record
Japanese 先史の, 先史時代の
- 先史の (senshi no)of relating to the epoch before written record
- 先史時代の (senshi jidai no)of relating to the epoch before written record
Korean 선사의, 선사 시대의
- 선사의 (seonsa-ui)of relating to the epoch before written record
- 선사 시대의 (seonsa sidae-ui)of relating to the epoch before written record
Latin praehistoricus, praehistorius
- praehistoricusof relating to the epoch before written record
- praehistoriusof relating to the epoch before written record
Latvian aizvēsturisks
- aizvēsturisksof relating to the epoch before written record
Lithuanian priešistorinis
- priešistorinisof relating to the epoch before written record
Malay prasejarah
- prasejarahof relating to the epoch before written record
Norwegian Bokmål forhistorisk
- forhistoriskof relating to the epoch before written record
Polish prehistoryczny
- prehistorycznyof relating to the epoch before written record
Portuguese pré-histórico
- pré-históricoof relating to the epoch before written record
Romanian preistoric
- preistoricof relating to the epoch before written record
Russian доистори́ческий
- доистори́ческий (doistoríčeskij)of relating to the epoch before written record
Scottish Gaelic ro-eachdraidheil
- ro-eachdraidheilof relating to the epoch before written record
Slovak praveký
- pravekýof relating to the epoch before written record
Spanish prehistórico, prehistórico
- prehistóricoof relating to the epoch before written record
- prehistóricooutdated
Swedish förhistorisk
- förhistoriskof relating to the epoch before written record
Tagalog sinauna
- sinaunaof relating to the epoch before written record
Turkish tarih öncesi
- tarih öncesiof relating to the epoch before written record
Ukrainian доістори́чний
- доістори́чний (doistorýčnyj)of relating to the epoch before written record
Vietnamese tiền sử
- tiền sửof relating to the epoch before written record
Welsh cynhanesyddol
- cynhanesyddolof relating to the epoch before written record
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with prehistoric
All rhymes →Cite this entry
prehistoric. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prehistoric
“prehistoric.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prehistoric. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prehistoric,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prehistoric.
Source: prehistoric on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.