prehistory

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the period before written records exist for a society or region

   Archaeologists use material remains to reconstruct human life in prehistory.

2. 2
   noun

   the study of human societies before written records

   She specializes in the prehistory of the eastern Mediterranean.

3. 3
   noun

   a past period treated as remote, obscure, or outside remembered history

   For today's students, the early days of dial-up internet can seem like prehistory.

From pre- ("before") + history, first recorded in English in the nineteenth century after the model of prehistoric. The word can denote both the period before written records and its study.

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