prehistory

noun pre·his·to·ry \ ˌprē-ˈhis-t(ə-)rē \

Definition of prehistory

1 :the study of prehistoric humankind

2 :a history of the antecedents of an event, situation, or thing

3 :the prehistoric period of human evolution

See prehistory defined for English-language learners

See prehistory defined for kids

Examples of prehistory in a Sentence

We are learning about the prehistory of North America.

Recent Examples of prehistory from the Web

Jon’s father is Rhaegar Targaryen, the long-dead older brother of Dany who ran off with Lyanna during the show’s prehistory.

— jeremy egner, The Seattle Times, "As ‘Game of Thrones’ returns, here’s where we left off," 14 July 2017
So, nonfiction by subject and then chronologically — American prehistory, Colonial history, Civil War, etc.

— New York Times, "Don Winslow: By the Book," 29 June 2017
Pre-colonization Aboriginal culture is thought to have lasted more than 60,000 years in Australia, from prehistory to the late 1700s when European settlers moved in, forcing a lifestyle change.

— jennifer billock, Smithsonian, "A Guided Tour of Australia’s Blue Mountains Follows Ancient Aboriginal Songlines," 23 June 2017
Lapidary has its roots in prehistory, as early humans began fashioning tools and weapons from stone.

— chuck fieldman, chicagotribune.com, "Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art considers move to Oak Brook," 14 June 2017
Last month, Netflix canceled The Get Down, its crazily expensive rap-prehistory melodrama.

— tom breihan, Billboard, "Jaden Smith Morphs into a Superhero for 'Batman' Video," 14 June 2017
Early in the process of piecing together the story of human prehistory, many human-like fossils were found in Europe, so some supposed that Homo sapiens first arose on that continent.

— eva botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, "Just how Earth-shattering are those 300,000-year-old Homo sapiens fossils?," 8 June 2017
Such a dramatic new date in human prehistory may seem shocking, especially to people who expect evolution to follow a tidy linear progression.

— eva botkin-kowacki, The Christian Science Monitor, "Just how Earth-shattering are those 300,000-year-old Homo sapiens fossils?," 8 June 2017
Minutes upon minutes unfold with strings and synths droning patiently: prehistory?

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "A Musical Voyage Through the Solar System, Darkly," 8 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prehistory.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of prehistory

1871

Other Anthropology Terms

ectomorph, ethnography, yurt

PREHISTORY Defined for English Language Learners

prehistory

noun

Definition of prehistory for English Language Learners

: the period of time in the past before people could write : the time before history was written down
: the time and events that came before and led to the development of something