Paleolithic

See also: paleolithic

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Paleolithic

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• palaeolithic, palæolithic, palaeolithical, paleolithical

Etymology

From paleo- +‎ -lithic.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪl.iː.əʊˌlɪθ.ɪk/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪlioʊˌlɪθɪk/, /ˈpeɪliəˌlɪθɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Proper noun

Paleolithic

1. A period that lasted from two and a half million years ago to 10,000 BCE; the Old Stone Age.

   Synonym: Old Stone Age

   Holonym: Stone Age

   Comeronyms: New Stone Age, Neolithic

Derived terms

• Upper Paleolithic

Related terms

• lith

Translations

Old Stone Age

Asturian: paleolíticu m Bulgarian: палеолит m (paleolit) Catalan: paleolític (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 旧石器时代 (zh) (Jiùshíqìshídài) Czech: paleolit (cs) m Danish: ældste stenalder ? Dutch: paleolithicum (nl) m Estonian: paleoliitikum Finnish: paleoliittinen kausi French: paléolithique (fr) m Galician: paleolítico (gl) m German: Altsteinzeit (de) f Greek: Παλαιολιθική f (Palaiolithikí) Hindi: पुरापाषाण काल (hi) m (purāpāṣāṇ kāl) Hungarian: paleolitikum (hu) Interlingua: paleolithico Irish: an tSean-Chlochaois f, pailéiliteach Italian: paleolitico (it) m Japanese: 旧石器時代 (ja) (きゅうせっきじだい, Kyūsekki Jidai) Korean: 구석기 시대(舊石器時代) (ko) (Guseokgi sidae) Latin: palaeolithicus ? Latvian: paleolīts m Maltese: paleolitiku m Polish: paleolit (pl) m Portuguese: Paleolítico (pt) m Russian: палеоли́т (ru) m (paleolít) Sicilian: paleoliticu m Slovene: paleolitik (sl) m Spanish: Paleolítico (es) m Swedish: paleolitikum (sv) n Thai: ยุคหินเก่า (yóok hĭn gào) Turkish: Eski Taş Devri, Kaba Taş Devri, Yontma Taş Devri (tr) Vietnamese: thời đại đồ đá cũ

Adjective

Paleolithic (not comparable)

1. Of or referring to the Old Stone Age (the Paleolithic period or Paleolithic age).
   • 1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 18:

     We find material evidences of magical practices in the European caves of the Palæolithic age[.]

2. (hyperbolic) Antiquated, antediluvian.
   • 2025 August 4, Mike Isaac, “A.I. Has Ushered in Silicon Valley’s ‘Hard Tech’ Era”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 4 August 2025:

     Stacked up against ChatGPT’s ability to instantly transform any image into a Studio Ghibli cartoon, Instagram’s photo filters are practically Paleolithic.

Translations

of or referring to the Old Stone Age

Bulgarian: палеолитен (paleoliten), старокаменен (starokamenen) Catalan: paleolític (ca) Czech: paleolitický Finnish: paleoliittinen (fi) Galician: paleolítico (gl) Greek: παλαιολιθικός (el) (palaiolithikós) Irish: Pailéiliteach Italian: paleolitico (it) Korean: 구석기 시대(舊石器時代) (ko) (Guseokgi sidae), 구석기(舊石器) (ko) (Guseokgi) Portuguese: paleolítico (pt) Spanish: paleolítico (es) Swedish: paleolitisk

See also

• Mesolithic
• Neolithic