PALEOLITHIC

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does Paleolithic mean? 

• PALEOLITHIC (noun)
  The noun PALEOLITHIC has 1 sense:

1. second part of the Stone Age beginning about 750,000 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age about 8,500 years BC

  Familiarity information: PALEOLITHIC used as a noun is very rare.

• PALEOLITHIC (adjective)
  The adjective PALEOLITHIC has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to the second period of the Stone Age (following the eolithic)

  Familiarity information: PALEOLITHIC used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PALEOLITHIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Second part of the Stone Age beginning about 750,000 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age about 8,500 years BC

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Synonyms:

Palaeolithic; Paleolithic; Paleolithic Age

Instance hypernyms:

period; period of time; time period (an amount of time)

Meronyms (parts of "Paleolithic"):

Lower Paleolithic (the oldest part of the Paleolithic Age with the emergence of the hand ax; ended about 120,000 years ago)

Middle Paleolithic (the time period of Neanderthal man; ended about 35,000 years BC)

Upper Paleolithic (the time period during which only modern Homo sapiens was known to have existed; ended about 10,000 years BC)

Holonyms ("Paleolithic" is a part of...):

Stone Age ((archeology) the earliest known period of human culture, characterized by the use of stone implements)

• PALEOLITHIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the second period of the Stone Age (following the eolithic)

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Synonyms:

palaeolithic; paleolithic

Context example:

paleolithic artifacts

Pertainym:

Paleolithic Age (second part of the Stone Age beginning about 750,000 to 500,000 years BC and lasting until the end of the last ice age about 8,500 years BC)

 Context examples 

The caves were once home to Neanderthals who lived in Europe during the Middle Paleolithic period.

(Neanderthals used resin 'glue' for tools, National Science Foundation)