Dictionary

prehistory en · NOUN

Pronunciation

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Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per- Proto-Indo-European *preh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-i Proto-Indo-European *préh₂i? Proto-Italic *prai Proto-Italic *prai- Latin prae-lbor. Middle English pre- English pre- Proto-Indo-European *weyd- Proto-Indo-European *-tōr Proto-Indo-European *wéydtōr Proto-Hellenic *wístōr Ancient Greek ῐ̔́στωρ (hĭ́stōr) Proto-Indo-European *-eti Proto-Indo-European *-eyéti Proto-Indo-European *-esyéti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁yeti Proto-Indo-European *-yeti Proto-Indo-European *-éyeti Ancient Greek -έω (-éō) Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορέω (hĭstoréō) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Ancient Greek ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ (hĭstorĭ́ā)bor. Latin historiader. Old French estoire Old French estorie Old French historiebor. Middle English historie English history English prehistory From pre- (“before”) + history, first attested in the Foreign Quarterly Review in 1836, after the model of prehistoric, from French préhistorique.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The time before written records in any area of the world; the events and conditions of those times.
   • “We don’t find evidence for that sort of thing anywhere in prehistory.” 2014 September 29, Douglas Quenqua, “Toolmaking May Have Risen Independently”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 01 Oct 2014:
   • Along the way, elders of the Delaware, Lushootseed, Tsimshian, Colville, and Creek tribes have provided a comparative perspective on the long time frame of Keresan prehistory and culture. 2007, Jay Miller, Keresan Pueblos and Chaco Canyon Speculations on Language Identity, Puebloan Cultures, and Southwestern Prehistory, archived from the original on 15 Aug 2025, page 5:
2. (countable, uncountable) The study of those times.
3. (countable, excessive, humorous, uncountable) Any past time (even recent) treated as such a distant, unknowable era.
   • I was a town boy through and through. The country belonged to a vague pre-history. 1984, Shiva Naipaul, Beyond the Dragon's Mouth, page 25:
4. (as pre-history, countable, often, uncountable) The history leading up to some event, condition, etc.
   • One of the challenges of studying any Jewish custom is that we tend to view it in an anachronistic fashion; we think that what we do today is what was always done. Therefore, in this article we shall describe the pre-history of the Bar Mitzvah ceremony, the four basic components of the Bar Mitzvah ceremony before the year 1800 as suggested by Michael Hilton, and six major changes that occurred in modern times. 2021, David Golinkin, “What is the Origin and History of the Bar Mitzvah Ceremony”, in Anat Helman, editor, No Small Matter Features of Jewish Childhood:
   • Psychologists... are mostly bad historians, inventing—as Freud has done—their pre-history to suit their theories. 1931 July 25, Time & Tide, page 893:

Forms

Antonyms

posthistory

Relateds

prehistoric · prehistorian

Synonyms

prehistoric age

Translations (98)

fi esihistoria (study of events and conditions before written records) · ru предысто́рия (history of events leaving up to something) · id prehistori (era before written records) · cmn 史前 (era before written records) · nb forhistorie (study of events and conditions before written records) · ja 前史 (history of events leaving up to something) · ms prasejarah (study of events and conditions before written records) · nn forhistorie (study of events and conditions before written records) · cmn 史前時代 /史前时代 (era before written records) · ru праисто́рия (study of events and conditions before written records) · he פרהיסטוריה (era before written records) · ro preistorie (era before written records) · da forhistorie (study of events and conditions before written records) · nn forhistorie (history of events leaving up to something) · it preistoria (study of events and conditions before written records) · tr prehistorya (era before written records) · pl prehistoria (history of events leaving up to something) · ja 先史時代 (era before written records) · fi esihistoriallinen aika (era before written records) · ko 선사 시대 (era before written records) · cmn 發展背景 /发展背景 (history of events leaving up to something) · nl prehistorie (study of events and conditions before written records) · be прагісто́рыя (era before written records) · da forhistorie (history of events leaving up to something) · ast prehistoria (study of events and conditions before written records) · nrf préhistouaithe (study of events and conditions before written records) · ka პრეისტორია (study of events and conditions before written records) · hi प्रागितिहास (era before written records) · ru праисто́рия (era before written records) · ka წინარეისტორია (study of events and conditions before written records) · ru доистори́ческий пери́од (era before written records) · de Vorgeschichte (history of events leaving up to something) · uk доісто́рія (era before written records) · id prasejarah (era before written records) · ru доисто́рия (study of events and conditions before written records) · pl prehistoria (study of events and conditions before written records) · de Vorzeit (era before written records) · hy նախապատմություն (history of events leaving up to something) · de Urgeschichte (era before written records) · fr préhistoire (study of events and conditions before written records) · vi tiền sử (era before written records) · ka პრეისტორია (era before written records) · sh pretpovijest (study of events and conditions before written records) · nb forhistorie (history of events leaving up to something) · ru преисто́рия (study of events and conditions before written records) · be перадгісто́рыя (history of events leaving up to something) · bn প্রাগিতিহাস (era before written records) · sv förhistoria (study of events and conditions before written records) · de Vorgeschichte (study of events and conditions before written records) · fr préhistoire (era before written records) · sl prazgodovina (era before written records) · mk праисторија (study of events and conditions before written records) · ga réamhstair (era before written records) · sh prahistorija (study of events and conditions before written records) · ca prehistòria (study of events and conditions before written records) · tr tarih öncesi (study of events and conditions before written records) · it preistoria (era before written records) · vo rujenav (study of events and conditions before written records) · tr tarih öncesi (era before written records) · sq parahistori (era before written records) · cs pravěk (study of events and conditions before written records) · ko 전사 (history of events leaving up to something) · pt pré-história (era before written records) · ja 先史学 (study of events and conditions before written records) · fr préhistoire (history of events leaving up to something) · my သမိုင်းမတိုင်မီခေတ် (era before written records) · cs pravěk (era before written records) · tr prehistorya (study of events and conditions before written records) · de Urgeschichte (study of events and conditions before written records) · sh prehistorija (study of events and conditions before written records) · sh prapovijest (study of events and conditions before written records) · gl prehistoria (study of events and conditions before written records) · es prehistoria (study of events and conditions before written records) · eo prahistorio (study of events and conditions before written records) · fi historia (history of events leaving up to something) · hy նախապատմություն (study of events and conditions before written records) · vi thời tiền sử (study of events and conditions before written records) · ms ڤراسجاره (study of events and conditions before written records) · ru преисто́рия (era before written records) · ka წინარეისტორია (era before written records) · kmr pêşdîrok (study of events and conditions before written records) · mk праисторија (era before written records) · ar عَصْر مَا قَبْلَ التَّارِيخ (era before written records) · ko 선사학 (study of events and conditions before written records) · uk передісто́рія (study of events and conditions before written records) · cmn 史前史 (study of events and conditions before written records) · pl prehistoria (era before written records) · gl prehistoria (era before written records) · sh prethistorija (study of events and conditions before written records) · sk pravek (era before written records) · ca prehistòria (era before written records) · sk pravek (study of events and conditions before written records) · ru доисто́рия (era before written records) · sl prazgodovina (study of events and conditions before written records) · bg праисто́рия (era before written records) · pt pré-história (study of events and conditions before written records) · uk преісто́рія (era before written records) · uk передісто́рія (history of events leaving up to something)