Definition

1. Noun:
   • A member of a society or culture that obtains food primarily by hunting wild animals and foraging for wild plants, rather than by practicing agriculture or raising domesticated animals.

Usage

• The term is used to describe individuals and groups whose primary subsistence strategy involves direct procurement of food from the natural environment.
• It is often used in anthropological, archaeological, and historical contexts to discuss pre-agricultural human societies and some contemporary indigenous cultures.

Examples

• Noun:
  • Anthropologists study the tools and social structures of the hunter-gatherer.
  • For most of human history, people lived as hunter-gatherers.

Advanced Usage

• The term is frequently used in a compound adjectival form (e.g., hunter-gatherer society, hunter-gatherer lifestyle). However, the core definition pertains to the person or people.
  • The hunter-gatherer way of life required extensive knowledge of the local ecosystem.

Variants and Related Words

• Hunter-gatherer can function as a compound noun. Its related concepts are typically expressed with the term used attributively.
• Hunter-gatherer society (n): A community whose economy is based on hunting and gathering.
• Hunter-gatherer lifestyle (n): The mode of living characterized by hunting and gathering activities.

Synonyms

• Forager: A person who searches for wild food resources.
• Nomad (in specific contexts): A member of a people having no permanent abode, which often describes many hunter-gatherer groups. (Note: Not all nomads are hunter-gatherers, and not all hunter-gatherers are nomadic.)

Antonyms

• Agriculturist: A person who practices agriculture.
• Farmer: A person who owns or manages a farm.
• Pastoralist: A person who raises livestock, often as a nomadic herder.

Noun

1. a member of a hunting and gathering society