Paleolithic

See also: paleolithic

English

Alternative forms

• palaeolithic, palæolithic, palaeolithical, paleolithical

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷelh₁-der.?

Ancient Greek πάλαι (pálai)

Ancient Greek -ος (-os)

Ancient Greek πᾰλαιός (pălaiós)der.

English paleo-

English -lithic

English Paleolithic

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

• Epipaleolithic
• prepaleolithic
• Upper Paleolithic

Related terms

• lith

Translations

Old Stone Age

• Asturian: paleolíticu m
• Belarusian: палеалі́т m (paljealít)
• 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, Paläolithikum n
• Greek: Παλαιολιθική f (Palaiolithikí)
• Hindi: पुरापाषाण काल 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)
• Kashmiri: پرٛون کَنہِ زَمانہٕ (prōn kani zamānụ)
• 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)
• Ukrainian: палеолі́т m (paleolít)
• Vietnamese: thời đại đồ đá cũ, 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^[1], 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

• Asturian: paleolíticu
• Belarusian: палеаліты́чны (paljealitýčny)
• Bulgarian: палеолитен (paleoliten), старокаменен (starokamenen)
• Catalan: paleolític (ca)
• Czech: paleolitický
• Dutch: paleolithisch (nl)
• Estonian: paleoliitiline
• Finnish: paleoliittinen (fi)
• Galician: paleolítico (gl)
• German: altsteinzeitlich (de), paläolithisch (de)
• Greek: παλαιολιθικός (el) (palaiolithikós)
• Hindi: पुरापाषाण (purāpāṣāṇ)
• Irish: Pailéiliteach
• Italian: paleolitico (it)
• Korean: 구석기 시대(舊石器時代) (ko) (Guseokgi sidae), 구석기(舊石器) (ko) (Guseokgi)
• Polish: paleolityczny (pl)
• Portuguese: paleolítico (pt)
• Russian: палеолити́ческий (ru) (paleolitíčeskij)
• Spanish: paleolítico (es)
• Swedish: paleolitisk
• Ukrainian: палеоліти́чний (paleolitýčnyj), давньокам'яни́й (davnʹokamʺjanýj)

See also

• Mesolithic
• Neolithic